By News Business Reporter

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

But the course the virus takes will determine how those back-to-the-office plans shape up.

The next month’s data on the delta variant, as well as guidance from state and local health officials, “will be critical to the finalization of our return to office plans, including on-site logistics,” she said.

“We know how quickly the data can change, and we are prepared to pivot our plans if necessary to ensure that our employees are safe and healthy so they can continue serving our members,” Hartmann added.

By News Staff Reporter

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said today he believes a mask mandate for indoor gatherings in Erie County could be coming as soon as the end of this week because of the rise in Covid-19 cases.

“We will have an indoor mask requirement again, possibly by the end of the week,” Poloncarz said Wednesday during an Erie County Industrial Development Agency meeting.

By Andy Newman

Read the full article from New York Times, here.

New York City resumed the process of transferring thousands of homeless people from pandemic hotel rooms back to barracks-style group shelters on Monday, two weeks after a judge halted the moves on the grounds that the city was not giving adequate consideration to people’s health.

By News Staff Reporter

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

With roughly one in four New Yorkers still unvaccinated against Covid-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said the state will attempt to boost the vaccination rate by targeting 117 ZIP codes that have both low vaccination rates and a high spread of Covid with outreach efforts by community-based organizations.

Twenty-five of those ZIP codes are outside New York City and Long Island and include two in Western New York: 14215 in Buffalo and Cheektowaga and 14770 along the Pennsylvania border in Cattaraugus County.

By Tom Precious

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Health officials from Buffalo to downstate are cautiously watching the spread of the Delta variant, which has hit states with lower vaccination rates, contributed to Wall Street’s slide on Monday and increased worries at the Olympic Village in Tokyo.

Now, with nearly 9,000 newly infected New Yorkers in the past 10 days, some officials wonder: Is it time to restore mandatory, or at least recommended, mask policies for people, regardless of their vaccination status, in indoor public settings in New York State?

By Mary B. Pasciak

Read the full article from Buffalo Newz, here.

That will involve providing a host of strategies to bring each student up to grade level during the school year, while also identifying learning gaps and providing additional help to bridge those gaps.

Once classes begin in September, each student in Buffalo will be screened to identify what skills need to be retaught to get them up to grade level, according to a report recently released by the school district.

By Deidre Williams

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Buffalo is slated to receive $331 million in federal stimulus funding. Half of the windfall arrived last month. The second payment is expected to come next year. All of the funds must be spent within the next four years. The Common Council will hold a public meeting for the community to weigh in on the spending.

By Dale Anderson

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Only one person died statewide from Covid-19 on Saturday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo reported Sunday, matching the lowest number New York State has registered since the pandemic began.

By Barbara O’Brien

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

The state Health Department updated the guidance because of the “current low rates of Covid-19 transmission,” it said in an email to school districts.

Schools and districts may implement the masking policies for child care, day camp and overnight camp programs, the state said. That guidance says that unvaccinated children “are strongly encouraged but not required to wear face coverings indoors as feasible.”

By Sandra Tan

Read the full article from Buffalo News, here.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz first announced on May 11 that the county had contracted with Buffalo Homecare and the Visiting Nursing Association of Western New York to deliver and administer the vaccine to the homes of eligible residents who request it, regardless of whether they are homebound.