As schools in upstate New York begin opening, the positivity rates for COVID-19 sit just above 4% for the Capital Region, Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley and Western New York for the last 7 days.
The North Country had a 7 day average of 5.45%.
In addition to the mandatory mask mandate for school staff, Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration is now looking into requiring vaccines with the testing.
President of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), Andy Pallotta, says that the union supports the testing but not the vaccine mandate.
Pallotta says he has received over 1,400 emails with various reasons teachers don’t want the vaccine.
Reasons range from breastfeeding to religion.
Pallotta is ready for collective bargaining should the Hochul administration enforce a vaccine mandate.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].