A shed fire, with flames showing, is reported at 91 Myrtle St., Le Roy.
Le Roy fire, Le Roy ambulance, Bergen fire and City fire's FAST Team dispatched.
UPDATE 8:03 p.m.: Le Roy's chief has put Bergen back in service.
Press release:
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments have received three more COVID-19 cases. Orleans has two new cases and Genesee has one. Contact tracing has been initiated. There is currently no further information to release on ages and location.
Mapping to include the positive cases from the weekend will be updated on Monday afternoon.
We encourage everyone to continue social distancing and staying home. If you need to go out, for essential needs, only one person should be running those errands so as not to risk further exposure.
This is not a time for gatherings or play dates or date night. The life you save may be you or a loved one. We can do this together -- we are one day closer to this being a memory.
Grandma Carol Sliker, of East Pembroke, was sad about missing Easter Sunday with her grandkids, so the Sliker family organized an impromptu private Easter Parade just for grandma.
Photos submitted by Brittany Riley.
We don't normally share things like this, not having a Letters to the Editor section, but this was nice to highlight on an Easter Sunday during the coronavirus:
To the girls at the Batavia Dunkin’ Donuts. thank you for the free coffees for the nurses and healthcare workers. I got my two coffees free from the Batavia Dunkin because I am a nurse and a healthcare worker. You guys made my day being open and made me tear up for the thank yous!!!!
I wanted to let everyone know how awesome they made me feel for being a nurse in this COVID-19 time!
Larissa Miller, an LPN at the New York State Veterans Home.
Photo and cutline submitted by Randy McIntire.
Margaret Worthington's family wanted to wish her a Happy Easter on Sunday. Margaret is a resident at Premier Genesee Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.
They were able to put their wish in chalk while she looked on from her window, while under protective quarantine. They spoke on the phone where she expressed her thanks and her love for her family.
As time went on, more and more residents began waving and before we were finished we were wishing a Happy Easter to many onlookers.
From left are Lisa, Mackenzie and Chris Lavrey, Amy, Kayla, Derek and Randy McIntire, Jeff McIntire and Cindy Reynolds, Randy and Colleen McIntire.
Near the end of today's briefing by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Jesse McKinley, Albany bureau chief for the New York Times, at the prompting of The Batavian, asked the governor a question about the increase of cases in two rural counties, including Genesee County.
Press release:
Sarah Wessel, in Alexander, submitted this photo with a note that said, "Jasmine and Anabelle’s house. Spring is here."
Video: Easter message from Rev. Dr. Roula Alkhouri, Batavia First Presbyterian Church
We're trying something new tonight. Rather than a live stream interview, we invited Tim Hens to join in a conversation about current events. You know Hens as the county highway superintendent but that isn't what we'll be talking about tonight.
Your feedback on this format is welcome. You can type comments during the live stream on YouTube by clicking here.
The American Legion marquee sign outside the Legion Hall on Alexander Road, Batavia.
It was a busy day for the Easter Bunny in Genesee County today, among the stops -- the Village of Alexander, where the Bunny was given a ride and escort by the Alexander Volunteer Fire Department for all the children to see.
Two poems by Harold Pinter read by Rodrigo Beilfuss, artistic director of Shakespeare in the Ruins in Manitoba, Canada, and an artist in residence at the Harvester 56 Theater.
Press release:
The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments have received six more COVID-19 cases. Orleans has two new cases and Genesee has four. Contact tracing has been initiated.
There is currently no further information to release on ages and locations. Mapping to include the positive cases from the weekend will be updated on Monday afternoon.
We encourage everyone to continue social distancing and staying home. If you need to go out, for essential needs, only one person should be running those errands so as not to risk further exposure. This is not a time for gatherings or date night.
The life you save may be you or a loved one. We can do this together…we are one day closer to this being a memory.
The Health Department does not released further information until Monday afternoon.
Arielle McVay donned a bunny suit today, and accompanied by Tonya Philips, tried to bring a little joy to Batavia residents this afternoon, walking most of the length of Main Street as the Easter Bunny, waving at cars as they drove by, with many drivers answering with a friendly honk.
Le Roy Oatkan Knight Golf Coach Amy Brotherton rallied her current and former players to produce a quarantine golf video.
Principal Tim McArdle said it is a tribute to all Section V golfers and pros missing "Moving Day at the Masters Golf Tournament."
Press release:
An additional three detainees at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia have tested positive for COVID-19.
That brings the number of detainees who have tested positive at the facility to seven.
The Batavian reported on the first four cases on Friday. In the original story, we said detainees who tested positive were not included in the countywide count based on information obtained from the Health Department. The Health Department has since corrected that previous statement and said detainees, as well as COVID patients at other federal and state facilities in the county, are included in the county's numbers.
As of this morning, the County is reporting 70 positive cases locally, and 49 active cases, 20 recoveries, and one death. It's not known at this time if the three new ICE cases are yet included in the county's count.
We've requested from an ICE spokesman more information about the three new cases.
So far, ICE has not reported any employees at the facility as positive.
UPDATE 12:46 p.m.: More information from ICE:
- Two 21-year-old Salvadorian nationals, and a 35-year-old Dominican national in ICE custody at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York, tested positive for COVID-19.
Consistent with CDC guidelines, those who have come in contact with these individuals have been cohorted and are being monitored for symptoms.
Employees, and their family members, of O-AT-KA Milk Products have been expressing concern this week about how the company has responded to the outbreak of COVID-19 in our community.
In emails to The Batavian and in social media posts, both employees and family members have accused the company of making employees work even though they might have been exposed to a person who tested positive for the coronavirus.
In the past week, Genesee County has gone from 17 confirmed cases to 70 people who have tested positive for COVID-19. In that same period, surrounding rural counties have not seen a similar spike.
It's unclear how much of the more than 400-percent increase in positive cases are connected with O-AT-KA but sources have indicated as many as 20 people who work at the facility have tested positive.
O-AT-KA CEO William Schreiber declined today to answer a question about how many employees have been infected.
At the beginning of the week, the Health Department reported the first sharp increase in cases -- 10 new cases -- and the department press release said many of the cases, including a big jump in mandatory quarantines, could be attributed to one employee going to work while symptomatic.
At that time, Public Health Director Paul Pettit said, "A significant increase in the number of mandatory quarantines being reported today is due to a symptomatic person going to work at a local business."
Pettit declined to name the company then nor discuss now specific complaints from employees about O-AT-KA.
Since Monday, the Health Department has indicated that several of the people who were on mandatory quarantine as of Monday have since tested positive.
Two sources said there were two confirmed COVID-19 cases at O-AT-KA on Monday.
The specific complaints sent to The Batavian about O-AT-KA:
One of the features of the virus SARS-CoV-2 is that people can be infectious before becoming symptomatic, and perhaps remain asymptomatic, and a fever is not necessarily the first symptom of illness.
During a phone call today, we asked Schreiber repeatedly to respond to these specific allegations and he declined.
He did read a prepared statement:
We have taken every precaution to protect our employees. We have followed the guidelines of every regulatory agency involved since the start of the pandemic and most importantly, as part of our response, our leadership team has worked to ensure our employees are safe and that they have the tools and resources needed to be successful.
O-AT-KA is not the only local company under scrutiny from employees. The Batavian has received emails about two other local employers, deemed essential businesses by the State of New York, that say their bosses are not taking coronavirus precautions seriously.
One employee, who said the employees' complaints have gone to the Attorney General's Office, was specific about lack of sanitizer, personal protection gear, and inattention to social distancing.
The employee said, "With the number of people that come to work at this plant from outside counties and cities, it is only a matter of time before someone infected comes to work and it will spread like wildfire. We should be closed right now. We should be home, safe with our families until our government deems it that we are safe to go back to work."
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