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COVID-19 Coverage

County Reports 34 New COVID Cases; 399 Since Aug. 1

The Chautauqua County Department of Health on Tuesday reported 34 new cases of COVID-19, marking nearly 400 since Aug. 1. The bulk of new cases (18) continue to come from residents in the Jamestown zip code. There were also five reported in Dunkirk; four in Fredonia; two each in Forestville and South Dayton; and one each in Ashville, Kennedy and Lakewood. There are currently 187 active cases of the virus in Chautauqua County, an increase of 31 from information provided Monday; seven people with the virus in the hospital, no change from the previous day; 293 people in quarantine, a ...

Hochul: Masks Should Be Needed To Enter Public Schools

In an afternoon address, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would make masks mandatory for anyone entering public schools and wanted to implement a requirement that all school staff either be vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. "None of us want a rerun of last year's horrors with ...

CHQ Partners With Scandinavian, St. James Italian Festivals

CHAUTAUQUA — Two beloved festivals will be featured as part of Chautauqua Institution’s upcoming Culinary Week on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25. The pop-ups — the first of their kind — will offer favorites from the Scandinavian and St. James Italian festivals, neither of which were held for ...

NYC Mandates Vaccinations For Public School Teachers, Staff

NEW YORK (AP) — All New York City public school teachers and other staffers will have to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, officials said Monday as the nation's largest school system prepares for classes to start next month. The city previously said teachers, like other city employees, would have to get the shots or get tested weekly for the virus. The new policy marks the first flat-out vaccination mandate for city workers in the nation's most populous city. About 148,000 school employees — and contractors who work in schools — will have to get at least a first dose by ...

US Regulators Give Full Approval To Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Monday, potentially boosting public confidence in the shots and instantly opening the way for more universities, companies and local governments to make vaccinations mandatory. The Pentagon promptly announced it ...

Dems, GOP Vaccine Bills Waiting

The question of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination is on the minds of legislators on both sides of the issue. Low rates of COVID-19 vaccines in the spring and legislators’ focus on nursing homes and Gov. Andrew Cuomo kept the debates over mandatory vaccinations on the back burner until the legislature ended its 2021 session in June. When legislators return to Albany in January, there are a bevy of bills they can debate both mandating COVID-19 vaccines and making forced vaccination illegal. Legislators’ urgency on both sides of the issue may depend on what happens in the next four ...