T.F. Brown's and Extreme Streetware have teamed up to create and sell "Batavia Strong" hoodies.
The sweatshirts cost $20 and include a $5 gift certificate for T.F. Brown's.
The sweatshirts are available at T.F. Brown's.
Video: Sunday message from Pastor Roula Alkhouri, Batavia First Presbyterian Church.
The folks at Wolcott Street School made this morale-boosting video.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo conducted his daily briefing at noon today. This is a recording provided by his press office of a portion of it.
Governor Cuomo: "I don't even have the words to express my admiration for them. FDR always had words. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. To me that says it all today.
"Something is more important than their fear, which is their passion, their commitment, for public service, and helping others. That's all it is. It's just their passion and belief in helping others. And that overcomes their fear. And that makes them, in my book, just truly amazing, outstanding human beings."
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
"These public people, I don't even have the words to express my admiration for them. FDR always had words. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. To me that says it all today. Everyone is afraid. Everyone is afraid.
"Do you think these police officers are not afraid to leave their houses? You think these nurses are not afraid to go into the hospital? They're afraid. But, something is more important than their fear, which is their passion, their commitment, for public service, and helping others. That's all it is. It's just their passion and belief in helping others. And that overcomes their fear. And that makes them, in my book, just truly amazing, outstanding human beings. And I wish them and their families all the best."
Press release:
Today, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the date of the New York State’s presidential primary and special election will be moved from April 28 to June 23, to align with the congressional and legislative primaries across the state.
New York follows 10 states and one territory to move their presidential primaries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico have all delayed their primaries.
“There is nothing more critical than protecting the health and safety of our families right now," said Nate McMurray, the Democratic candidate in the NY-27 District. "I am grateful for Governor Cuomo’s leadership and for putting the people of New York before politics.
"This decision protects not only the general public, but hundreds of election workers and Board of Elections staff. When we carry out this essential democratic process on June 23rd, it will allow all residents, volunteers, and staff to do so safely. My team will be checking on the community to ensure that all our residents are prepared for the June election. I believe in Western New Yorkers and know they will be ready.”
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 6 p.m.
A wind advisory is in effect from 2 until 11 p.m.
Winds of 20 to 30 mph expected with gusts of 50 mph.
UPDATE 2:40 p.m.: Tristine Vanice submitted the photo above taken from her backyard off Lewiston Road, Oakfield, of the storm rolling in. Thunder and rain started in Batavia few minutes ago.
A fuel gas leak from a vehicle parked in a garage at 5561 Clinton Street Road, Stafford, sparked a fire at about 7:50 p.m. yesterday.
Stafford Fire Chief Matt Hendershott said that a vehicle owner was working on a vehicle when the fire started. The vehicle owner and the owner of the garage managed to pull the vehicle from the building before fire crews arrived.
As a result, the vehicle owner was transported to an area hospital for evaluation of possible smoke inhalation.
Hendershott said because the vehicle was removed from the structure, the structure did not catch fire.
Stafford fire responded with additional manpower from South Byron and Town of Batavia fire responded for traffic control.
Reader-submitted photos.
A gas leak has reportedly caused a barn fire at 5561 Clinton Street Road, Stafford.
Stafford fire dispatched.
South Byron, Byron, Town of Batavia, Le Roy, and the City's FAST Team asked to standby in quarters.
The location is between Prole Road Extension and the Thruway.
Press release:
“One more resident in Genesee County tested positive for COVID-19 since yesterday afternoon,” said Paul Pettit, Public Health director of Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments. “This now brings the official total to eight positive cases in Genesee County. Orleans County remains the same with four.
The individual is under the age of 65 and resides in the central part of Genesee County. The person is at home in mandatory isolation. Contact tracing has begun.
Genesee and Orleans County health officials emphasize that the public should take precautions against the spread of the coronavirus. Practice social distancing and wash your hands often.
If you are sick with any illness, the best way to keep it from spreading is to stay home!
If you have a fever, cough and/or trouble breathing, please call your health care provider for an assessment of your symptoms.
For general questions in regard to COVID-19, please contact the NYS COVID-19 Hotline at: 1-888-364-3065, or click here to ask a question electronically.
From Coach Jim Fazio: "Players and coaches from the Batavia varsity softball team participated in the Section V Softball Challenge.
"Previously high schools from Waterloo and Rush Henrietta came up with the idea of practicing social distancing by still being involved with their teams in a unique way with softball related skills and players' imaginations.
"Since Alexander High School and others did a fantastic job with their videos, this challenge took off and we thought it would be a great idea to join in and have some fun while practicing social distancing and playing safe."
Statement from Republican candidate Chris Jacobs on NY-27 District special election:
“My foremost concern is the health and safety of all New Yorkers in this difficult time," said NY-27 District Republican candidate Chris Jacobs about the upcoming special election.
"As we continue to deal with this national challenge, I urge everyone to stay safe and follow all the recommended guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will meet this challenge as we always have. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone.”
Video of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's daily briefing for March 28, 2020.
Press release:
Governor Cuomo: "People come up with all of these interesting ideas, you know. Who's painting their house because they never had time to paint their house before. Who's working on a project that they never got to. Who's reading a book that they never got to do. Who's writing a book. A few people say I'm writing my journals, I'm writing my life story. You know, find a way. You have the advantage of time here.
"I'm not trying to say it's not a terrible circumstance, but even in a terrible circumstance, if you look hard enough, you can find the little rays, a few rays of light, and people are doing it and I think we all should."
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
"My gratuitous 2 cents, see if you can't find a silver lining in all of this. People say extraordinary things to me that I just pick up anecdotally. I was going for a walk with one of my daughters and Captain, Captain's my dog. People come up with all of these interesting ideas, you know.
"Who's painting their house because they never had time to paint their house before. Who's working on a project that they never got to. Who's reading a book that they never got to do. Who's writing a book. A few people say I'm writing my journals, I'm writing my life story. You know, find a way. You have the advantage of time here.
"And you have the advantage of time for communication. I've had conversations with my daughters, hours-long conversations, where it's just us, just us talking. No place to go. She doesn't have to go to work. She doesn't have to run out. And they're priceless, they are priceless. I'll never get the opportunity in life to do that again.
"You know, we're going to get through this, and they're going to go off and find a boyfriend and do whatever they do. I've had conversations with my mother, who can't leave the house, and she's in the house, and so we sort of take turns talking to Mom. And I talked to my mother for hours. And it's special. It's special.
"So, yes, it's terrible. And I'm not trying to say it's not a terrible circumstance, but even in a terrible circumstance, if you look hard enough, you can find the little rays, a few rays of light, and people are doing it and I think we all should."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this morning that all elections in the state scheduled for April 28 -- village elections, the presidential primary, and the special elections -- will be held on the same day as congressional and legislative primaries in June.
This means the NY-27 special election will be held on the same day as party primaries for the NY-27.
This means the GOP's candidate for the NY-27, Chris Jacobs, will also be facing primary challenges from two or three other Republican candidates.
The Democratic special election candidate is Nate McMurray. He has not specifically announced a candidacy in the primary nor have any other Democrats announced a primary campaign.
This is a developing story and we'll provide more information when available.
We're talking with Sarah Hinze, owner of Note Your Worth Music Therapy. We've offered free live stream interviews to local business owners and this is part of that series.
There are seven residents of Genesee County who are currently trying to recover from coronavirus -- three of them are hospitalized -- and none of them, according to the County Health Department, had contact with each other.
During a briefing, today, Paul Pettit, director of public health, acknowledged that that fact pattern indicates widespread community transmission in Western New York.
Of the seven cases, we don't know where any of the individuals contracted COVID-19, be it in Genesee County, a neighboring county, or elsewhere in New York State but what we do know is they didn't give it to each other.
That makes social distancing critically important in controlling the spread of the potentially fatal disease.
"We're all in this together and one of the things we are hearing is folks are not complying with social distancing," Pettit said. "We're hearing that folks are just out and about and not hearing the recommendations, the guidelines, and so, unfortunately, these extreme mitigation techniques may linger longer. The more adherent we are and the better we do at following these guidelines the sooner we can get out of this out of the way and get back to normal life."
Coronavirus is all around us.
Erie County: 219 total cases, 85 new in the past 24 hours.
In Genesee County, 17 people are under precautionary quarantine and 34 people are under mandatory quarantine.
Not all of the people under quarantine were placed there because they had local contact with a positive case. Some of them had contact with a person in another county.
In New York, there are now 44,635 positive cases and 6,481. That's more confirmed cases in New York than any country in the world.
The countries that have had the most success in battling coronavirus -- such as Germany and South Korea -- have used aggressive contract tracing, social isolation, and testing.
Health workers in our county are working hard, Pettit said, to identify contacts positive cases had with other people. If any of those people were in a large group of people -- such as in a story or at an event -- that information would be released. If that information isn't released -- and it hasn't been -- Pettit said, that indicates the people who tested positive had more one-on-one contacts than any large-group contact.
At least for the period of symptoms that is included in the contract tracing protocol.
Pettit said local staff is working long hours on contact tracing and individuals who have come within six feet of a known positive case are being placed under mandatory quarantine.
However, the department is following state guidelines and only looking for contacts with positive patients going back to the first day of symptoms. A person who contracts COVID-19 can be infectious for days, if not two weeks, before becoming symptomatic.
Pettit's advice in this situation: act as if you've been infected or people around you are infected. People on social media worry too much about where a person who has tested positive might live or where they might have been. That's ignoring the fact that you can be exposed to COVID-19 anywhere at any time.
"We do have community spread in both Orleans and Genesee counties, which means you can literally get it from anywhere," Pettit said. "It's not important to know exactly where a person (who tests positive) is from. We all move around. It's just important to maintain the six-foot separation and the other recommendations that are out there."
If there is a major increase in hospitalized cases, United Memorial Medical Center is ready, said Dan Ireland, the hospital's CEO.
The hospital has canceled elective surgeries, freed up bed space, implemented telehealth calls where possible, established a drive-thru area for triage, identified areas to create bed space, and has plans phases one, two, and three of increases in capacity if needed.
The hospital can currently handle about 80 patients for COVID-19 treatment.
Most hospitalized patients, Ireland indicated, won't need a "negative pressure" rooms, which is a room to a person who is coughing and sneezing a lot, which means they are spraying an aerosol of COVID-19 into the room, and the building, they're in. And only a minority of hospitalized patients will have such difficulty breathing that they will need a ventilator.
If needed for a phase two surge expansion, the hospital could add 45 beds for patients.
Right now, the hospital could expand to about 12 negative pressure rooms.
"That could go as high as fifteen with our current supply of equipment," Ireland said. "So it is a moving target because if we can get more negative pressure fans with the filters on than we can convert rooms as we need to."
As for ventilators -- the most important piece of equipment needed to save the lives of the most seriously ill patients -- there are currently seven ventilators for more serious cases available and ten for less serious cases plus the hospital has access to two more if needed, plus there are five or six anesthesiology units that can be converted to ventilators if needed.
Multiple readers of The Batavian have asked about sewing homemade masks to distribute.
For protective measures for health care personal, those masks will be inadequate, both Pettit and Ireland indicated. Even N95 masks, which some local people and companies might have in reserve, might not meet medical needs because of the need for custom fitting.
However, that doesn't mean donations aren't appreciated. Standards may change and supplies run low; and, as for the rest of us wearing masks, Pettit didn't rule that out but said the best course of action remains to follow the protocols for staying at home as much as possible and social distancing.
"We've got to be careful with masks," Pettit said. "Having a mask on or any barrier is better than none ... (but) the recommendation is still not to be walking around and wearing masks. The recommendation is to stay home, help mitigate, keep six feet away from people, and the mask and wearing them is not going to be as vital."
In December, Andy and Laura Pedro purchased Blondies Sip-N-Dip on East Main Street Road in Batavia. Today, they officially opened for the spring, summer, and fall seasons.
Because of social distancing restrictions, right now, they can't serve walk-in customers but they have opened a walk-up window and they can use that window to service drive-thru customers.
"Not ideal," said Andy, "but we'll make it work."
Scheduled for 4 p.m.: Genesee County's COVID-19 Briefing for March 27, 2020
UPDATE: Paul Pettit, health director, just announced there are now seven positive cases in Genesee County, which means in the past 24 hours, there are three additional people who have tested positive for COVID-19. Three people are hospitalized. Yesterday, there were two.
UPDATE: Here's the written briefing from the Department of Health.
New Cases
Cumulative Data
OPERATIONAL UPDATES
FRAUD ALERT
NEW YORK STATE CASES / RESTRICTIONS / GUIDANCE
New York has delayed its plastic bag ban because of the coronavirus crisis until May 15 and Tops in Batavia is allowing customers the option of plastic bags, a spokeswoman for the grocery store chain said.
"Tops is temporarily not enforcing (the plastic bag ban) in order to help with sanitation concerns surrounding reusable bags and COVID-19," Kathleen A. Sautter said. "If a customer brings in a reusable bag and does not bag their own groceries themselves, the cashier will then bag their groceries in either a plastic or paper bag free of charge. This procedure will be rolled out at all of our stores until further notice."
UPDATE: This morning (March 27), Tops spokeswoman Kathleen A. Sautter corrected the information she provided Friday to say that paper bags will cost customers 5 cents each, but plastic will be free.
Press release:
Nate McMurray, Democratic congressional candidate in the April 28th Special Election in NY-27, called on Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature to reschedule the April 28th Special Election due to the coronavirus crisis and its growing threat to Western New Yorkers.
McMurray criticized opponent Chris Jacobs’ insistence to hold the upcoming election despite significant public health risk and election commission boards that have limited time and resources.
“We are in a war right now to preserve public health, at a war with this virus," McMurray said. "Our election commissioners and local leaders are unified in calling for a delay in the Special Election. I fought for this seat for over three years, I know how important it is that NY-27 gets representation.
"My opponent doesn’t seem to get the risk, nothing is more important than the health of our people. Jacobs’ push to move forward is both selfish and reckless. Why is Jacobs advocating for the same April 28 election date that the Republican Party originally sued to prevent?He is facing a heated primary in June and restricting the voice of the people on April 28th will benefit him.
"His concern should not be his political ambitions but the health and well-being of the people of Western New York. This is the same man who voted against paying victims of the coronavirus; he voted against sick leave. His uncle's business Delaware North, which funds his campaign, embarrassed Western New York this week by putting thousands of employees on leave without pay and creating a backlash from Buffalo to Boston.
"The Jacobs family are the only NHL franchise owners not to pay its employees benefits during this pandemic. These hardworking employees deserve more."
Earlier this week, the New York State Elections Commissioners’ Association called for immediate action by the Governor and New York State Legislature to protect the electoral process during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Association, a bipartisan good government group that includes election commissioners from across the state, cited critical shortages of inspectors and polling places due to the ongoing health crisis.
There are 15,000 coronavirus cases in New York State, a number that is expected to peak in 14 to 21 days and accounts for 5 percent of the worldwide total. Since Sunday, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has doubled and cases in the ICU have risen 82 percent.
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