PJ Wendel
Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel released a statement welcoming and supporting Governor Kathy Hochul‘s decision on masking.
He said the county will not implement a local masking mandate going forward. Employees and visitors who enter Chautauqua County buildings may continue to wear masks if they so choose, but are not required to do so. Masks are still required in areas controlled by the Office of Court Administration in the Gerace Office Building as mandated by New York State.
Wendel added that since the beginning of this recent surge, Chautauqua County enacted a multi-layered approach to mitigate the community transmission of COVID-19. The county distributed over 40,000 at-home COVID-19 tests, 48,000 KN95 facemasks, and over 10,000 cloth facemasks.
Chautauqua County also arranged for Quadrant Biosciences Laboratory to operate two on-going free testing clinics. One is located at the South County Office Building in Jamestown and the other at the north campus of Jamestown Community College in Dunkirk. In addition, the County has provided the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce with test kits to distribute to local businesses.
The County hasn’t accomplished anything in bringing numbers down. UPMC reports they have NO beds so what did the County’s vaccination program do for Chautauqua county? I believe masks are effective & politicians are walking away from Mask mandates because of the midterm elections. I won’t vote for any politician that does not support mask mandates. What is Mr. Wendell going to do when taxpaying citizens can’t get a bed in their local hospital? He will be blamed.