It hasn't felt like an emergency for awhile now, but finally they're going to make it official.  As of Saturday, we will no longer be in a state of emergency in Erie County.

We have been in a "State of Emergency" in Erie County for quite some time now in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.  But that is about to offically come to an end.

COVID-19 cases have been dropping along with hospitalizations and fatalities due to the virus.  Now multiple venues and organizations are dropping their mask mandates, and vaccine requirements and Erie County is about to follow suit.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz has made the announcement that the State of Emergency will end as of Saturday at noon.

“As March begins we are thankfully continuing to see reductions in case rates, especially from the extremely high rates that we saw just two months ago. Simultaneously, hospitalization rates for COVID-19 cases are dropping and the strain on our healthcare system is easing. These are good signs, but Erie County will continue to monitor these rates and other potential areas of concern with the virus and its variants; they are not going away completely." - Mark Poloncarz, Erie County Executive

The State of Emergency allowed the county executive certain powers to help protect the public and offer assistance through state funds.

While the pandemic-related mandates have been gone for a few days now, there will still be county-run testing and vaccination clinics to assist municipalities with PPE and other needs.

To see Poloncarz' complete statement, click here.

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