Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The mask mandate ordered by Erie County late in 2021 remains in place and is unaffected by the New York State Supreme Court ruling Monday that deemed the process by which the state mask mandate was issued to be unconstitutional, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz declared Tuesday.
"It is still valid," stated Poloncarz as he updated the COVID situation for the county and emphasized that the court ruling was based solely on the state mandate and how it was issued and has no bearing on the mask mandate locally or a similar one in place in the New York City area.
Poloncarz clarified that schools in Erie County are public places and are fully covered by the county mask mandate and also noted that the state education department has also told school districts to continue adhering to the mandate while the Monday decision goes through the appeal process.
"COVID is not over," declared Poloncarz but he also noted that the county is in its second consecutive week of declining case counts. He hinted an end may be in sight and that the mask mandate could be lifted sometime in February. "We're not there yet."
While the county executive said a number of factors would be considered in making a decision on when to lift the mask mandate, hospitalization numbers would loom large in that determination. In addition to overall cases being down in the county, hospitalization numbers continue to decline with ICU occupancy dropping down to 80%, he says. "The numbers are going down. That's a positive."
Poloncarz continued to stress the importance of being fully vaccinated and encouraged anyone who is not, to schedule their vaccinations.
Since Nov. 21, there have been 420 COVID-related deaths in area hospitals, says Poloncarz, and he says of that number, only 8.3% were people who were fully vaccinated. And of the 8.3%, a majority of those deaths were victims over the age of 80.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Poloncarz says roughly 1-in-5 county residents has tested positive for COVID-19.
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