Erie County Executive Poloncarz shuts down covid briefing over press obsession with Bills playoffs

[wnylib]

5. Update.

The NFL is negotiating with the state health department to have 6700 fans attend the game. No decision yet, but they are trying to arrange tests for attendees and have the Bills take charge of monitoring the entrance and seating. The attendees would have to be contact traced afterward.

Really? Is it worth it to expend so much time and testing materials to placate people who demand a superspreader event at a time when cases are spiking?

The state health commissioner said they can do the testing and the Bills can supervise people in the stands, but he is concerned about the inevitable parties and tailgating that will spread the virus even further in the community.

Poloncarz said the county is not involved in the negotiations and has not been consulted. He also said that the county does not have the capacity for the amount of testing required. It will have to be done by someone else. He is not happy and I feel for him. He is the one who will be frantically dealing with the consequences in two weeks, on top of what he and local hospitals are already dealing with.

Total insanity, IMO.