Erie County Sends out 40,000 Test Kits as COVID is Surging

COVID numbers continue to rise in Western New York, as the latest 26.8% Covid positivity rate today in Erie County shattered the previous single-day record.

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Starting tomorrow, The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) will be coordinating the distribution of nearly 40,000 COVID-19 at-home test kits across the county.  The kits will be sent to  Erie County village, town and city emergency managers. Each of these kits will contain two COVID tests, for a total of nearly 80,000 tests

Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz said via a press release;

The primary responsibility of county government is to promote the health and welfare of its citizens. That is why I am pleased to announce we are distributing 80,000 rapid COVID-19 tests to our local municipalities, who will then distribute the test kits to their residents. I thank our local mayors, supervisors, and emergency managers for agreeing to expeditiously distribute these kits starting tomorrow

The tests, which are being provided by New York State, were originally going to be distributed using the county's public library system, but based on staffing issues and weather conditions across the region, the plan has been shifted to send them directly to villages, towns, and Emergency Managers. The number of tests sent to each location was determined by that area's population.

Poloncarz went on to say that his administration and the ECDOH are both committed to providing testing supplies and PPE to the residents of Erie County in order to support public health and safety.

Erie County is asking its residents to report positive COVID-19 at-home test results by using the form located HERE.