Statement from Niagara County Legislature Chairman Becky Wydysh

“One of the criteria the CDC uses to determine areas of substantial transmission is a county that has between 50 and 99.9 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days.  As of today, Niagara County is apparently at 58 new cases per 100,000 residents.  Our numbers have unfortunately been increasing for the last several weeks. 

At the same time, our hospitalizations remain very low.  We had three residents hospitalized as of this morning.  With that, we are not going to issue a mandatory face mask policy for all of Niagara County. 

The County Legislature meets tomorrow, and we will certainly be reviewing our options based on the advice of our Public Health Director Daniel Stapleton, in particular as it relates to county buildings and the county workforce. 

But above all else, we implore people who have been hesitant to please get the COVID-19 vaccine.  The fact is the vaccination is your best chance to avoid getting COVID-19 and if you still contract it, you are unlikely to end up with severe symptoms and hospitalized.”