There are 28 new cases of the COVID-19 Virus in Chautauqua County being reported from last Saturday through Tuesday... with five of those being reported over the past day. Interim County Executive P-J Wendel says there were also 59 people who were reported as having recovered during that time period. Wendel says 18 of the new cases come from the SUNY College at Fredonia. He says that brings the number of confirmed cases to 522... and, 398 have now recovered. Wendel says 114 cases are now active... while two are hospitalized.
Three residents at the Tanglewood Group's dementia housing unit have tested positive for COVID-19... and their Fairmount Avenue facilities in West Ellicott has cancelled all visitations for 28 days. However... Tanglewood's Chief Operations Officer Troy Taylor tells the Post-Journal that none of the three residents were showing any symptoms of COVID-19. Taylor says that all residents were tested, according to state and local health department guidelines, after a "per diem" employee tested positive for the virus. Taylor says they were able to "contain all resident infection solely to a small area within the Memory Garden facility." We have a call into Taylor for comment.
The walkways at Lincoln Elementary school in Jamestown were decorated with balloons and ‘welcome back’ chalk drawings Tuesday. For the first time since March… students are back in school... and Principal Katie Russo says it's "wonderful" to have the kids back in school. Families met their students’ teachers at yard signs scattered across the school yard and the new year began. Elementary students in the Jamestown district will be in school either morning or afternoon, four days a week. For Russo... that means teachers will use their classroom time to focus on the essentials. Katie Russo says everyone on her staff is aware of how fluid the situation with COVID-19 is right now, and she’s encouraging them to be at the ready. A little more than 15 percent of Lincoln’s 400 families opted for an all remote option for their children to start the year.
The first day of school "went well" in the Falconer Central School Districts... which is going with a "Blue and Gold" schedule for the first four days of school. That from Superintendent Steve Penhollow... who says he was impressed by how everyone handled the new COVID protocols. Penhollow agrees it's been a challenging time for educators. Penhollow says the big test will come starting next Monday when their younger students begin coming for in-person classes every day.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued an executive order that all school districts report any new COVID-19 infections and testing to the state Health Department. Cuomo announced the order during a video press conference in Albany Tuesday morning on the first-day of classes in New York. He says it's because the best way to deal with anxiety is to provide factual information to parents and the community.
Cuomo says the website will have the information that's verified through the school district, the local health department, and the lab doing COVID testing. As for colleges and universities... Cuomo says their reopenings have been problematic nationwide... with more than 100 schools having 100 or more positive COVID cases. In New York... he says there are seven -- including Fredonia -- that have COVID clusters. The majority of cases at the SUNY College at Fredonia were off-campus... and, now number 75 with two having now recovered. To get the public school COVID 19 "Report Card..." go on-line to Schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov.
A Jamestown man faces a third-degree assault charge after allegedly being involved in an early morning domestic violence incident on the city's eastside. Police were called to a scene on Spring Street Extension just before 1 AM Tuesday... and arrested 40 year-old Matthew Sutton. Sutton allegedlly struck another person during the incident. He was taken to the city jail pending arraignment.
Two expensive farm tractors have been stolen from a location in the town of Arkwright. One is a combination front-loader and backhoe green-colored John Deere vehicle, and an orange-colored Kubota tractor. Sheriff's officers say the vehicles were reported stolen shortly before 10 PM last Friday from a property on Center Road. If you have any information on their whereabouts... you're asked to contact the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office at 661-7232.
