Erie County Health Department Update ( 3.26.20 )

The Erie County Department of Health is making the following announcements

  • We have received reports of 31 Erie County residents who are hospitalized as of yesterday due to COVID-19. As of today at 12 p.m. we have had 166 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Erie County residents.
  • FRAUD ALERT: At this time there are no FDA-approved drugs or treatments for COVID-19. There are also no over-the-counter COVID-19 tests. If you get an email, phone call, offer by mail or other solicitation for these scams, hang up and ignore them. This is a very important warning to reinforce for every Erie County resident. The best medical advice for you comes from your physician.
  • Our COVID-19 Information Line team is working with many county departments and outside agencies to keep our Frequently Asked Questions updated. Review that list here: http://www2.erie.gov/health/index.php?q=frequently-asked-questions-and-answers-about-covid-19-coronavirus
  • People who use or operate ride shares, taxi services or public transportation should make every effort to keep six feet away from others to the extent that is possible. Taxi and ride share operators should take steps to properly disinfect hard surfaces in the vehicle in between riders and stops.
  • The Division of Environmental Health offices at 503 Kensington Ave. in Buffalo have restricted access to the public by appointment only.

o   Complaints about public health hazards will continue to have on-site inspections.

o   Public Health Sanitarians are continuing surveillance and investigation programs for restaurants as they have shifted to take-out only service.

o   Property transfer inspections are suspended until further notice. Replacement sewage system design and inspection will continue.

o   Vector control work for exterior baiting will continue.

o   Our Rabies Program is available by phone at (716) 961-6800. Individuals who encounter a bat or other wild animal, or who are bitten by a dog, cat or other mammal, should call our office.

o   ATUPA/Tobacco Program with local retailers, though compliance checks with minors are suspended.

  • We are sharing this resource from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for assistance in quitting smoking and tobacco use. https://smokefree.gov/ has texting programs, phone apps and a live online chat to support people in reaching their smokefree goals.
  • Erie County has received information from some local employers who are expanding hiring at this time. This list is subject to change, but as of this afternoon the following companies and web sites have career and application information available:

o   Amazon: https://www.indeed.com/q-Amazon-l-Buffalo,-NY-jobs.html

o   ARC of Erie County: www.arceriecounty.org

o   Catholic Health: https://jobs.chsbuffalo.org

o   Community Services For Every1: www.csevery1.com

o   CVS: https://jobs.cvshealth.com

o   Dash’s Market: https://www.dashsmarket.com

o   Dollar General: https://careers.dollargeneral.com

o   Erie County Medical Center (ECMC): www.ecmc.edu/careers

o   General Mills: https://careers.generalmills.com

o   HiOperator: https://www.indeedjobs.com/hioperator-417bd07/jobs

o   Instacart: https://shoppers.instacart.com

o   Kaleida Health: https://www.kaleidahealth.org/careers

o   O-at-ka Milk Products: https://oatkamilk.com/careers

o   OLV Human Services: https://www.olvhumanservices.org/careers

o   SERVPRO Southtowns: https://www.servprothesouthtowns.com/careers

o   Steuben Foods            : http://www.steubenfoods.com/job-openings

o   Suburban Adult Services: https://www.sasinc.org/Careers

o   Tops Markets: https://www.topsmarkets.com/Careers

o   Upstate Niagara Cooperative: https://www.upstateniagara.com/careers

o   Walmart: https://careers.walmart.com

o   Wegmans: www.jobs.wegmans.com

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An Australian TMZ reporter confronted Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) outside a Senate hearing Thursday, challenging him to explain how punishing someone for using the Fifth Amendment could be constitutional.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee had just voted 8-5 along party lines to hold former top federal health official Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress for invoking his Fifth Amendment right 111 times at a hearing last week. TMZ reporter Charlie Cotton caught Scott in the hallway immediately after.

"Now maybe I'm just, like, not in the know because I'm Australian," Cotton said to Scott, "but how can you hold someone in contempt and punish someone for using a constitutional right? Isn't it there to use as a right?"

Scott argued Fauci had no grounds to use it.

"He had a pardon, so he — he didn't have that right to do that once he had the pardon," the senator said.

"But didn't he have risk of prosecution because if he'd misspoke, or if he'd lied or something?" Cotton pressed.

"Yeah, if he lied," Scott admitted.

"So he was at risk?" Cotton pointed out.

"He didn't have the right," Scott insisted.

"But not from the hearing," Cotton said, "because the hearing — if he lied, you said that he could be held, you know, accountable for that."

"He could've just told the truth," Scott said. "That's all he had to do."

"Well, he felt like it was a witch hunt," Cotton pushed back, "and you guys would stop at nothing to catch him and send him to prison."

"That's not my intention," Scott said. "I just want to get information."

"It's Rand Paul's intention, though," Cotton pressed.

"No," Scott said. "It's for his actions."

As Cotton was asking his next question, the Republican senator quickly walked away.

"Yep. Okay then," the TMZ reporter said.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek that invoking the Fifth was "the right legal move" — the pardon covered past conduct, but pleading the Fifth protected Fauci from perjury charges based on anything he said at the hearing.

As CEO of Columbia/HCA, Scott himself invoked the Fifth Amendment 75 times in a 2000 civil deposition while the company faced a federal investigation that led to a $1.7 billion settlement — at the time the largest Medicare fraud case in American history, Florida Phoenix reported.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) planned to hand-deliver the contempt referral to the Justice Department Thursday, bypassing a full Senate floor vote, CBS News reported.

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