ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO OFFER COVID-19 DIAGNOSTIC CLINIC IN RESPONSE TO GROUPING OF NEW CASES

ECDOH will coordinate with NYSDOH to provide tests for New Zion Baptist Church members and local community

ERIE COUNTY, NY— The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) will offer a one-day clinic for diagnostic COVID-19 testing at the New Zion Baptist Church parking lot in Buffalo on Friday, July 31.

The ECDOH contact tracing team identified a set of individuals with positive COVID-19 tests who attended activities at the New Zion Baptist Church during the same time period.

“Contact tracing is about breaking the chain of transmission,” said Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein. “Our epidemiology team is working with New Zion leadership to communicate directly with its congregation, inform them of their potential exposure and encourage them and their families to get a free diagnostic COVID-19 test at this clinic.”

Partnering with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), ECDOH will collect and send the test specimens to the NYSDOH Wadsworth Center in Albany for testing.

The site at 318 High Street in Buffalo will be open on Friday, July 31 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. for walk-up visits and drive-through traffic. Individuals who are unable to attend this clinic are strongly encouraged to get a diagnostic test through another ECDOH clinic, a NYSDOH testing site or another testing location. A searchable map of Erie County sites is available at www.erie.gov/covidtestsites. Individuals should also monitor for COVID-19 symptoms.

“This is the first time that we have used knowledge from our case investigations to coordinate a clinic to stop the chain of transmission,” said Dr. Burstein. “We have a chance to prevent a small grouping of new cases from becoming a much larger outbreak.”

“As we have seen from other parts of New York State, we will probably have to offer a COVID testing clinic like this again,” she continued. “Our entire ECDOH team is prepared to find and isolate new cases and prevent the spread of this disease.”

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All Erie County residents should:

• Wear a mask when you cannot maintain physical distancing of at least 6 feet
• Wash your hands frequently with soap and running water
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects
• Avoid large gatherings
• Avoid travel to states listed in the NYS Joint Travel Advisory; if travel is unavoidable, quarantine for 14 days upon returning to New York
• Stay home if you feel ill
• Consider a diagnostic COVID-19 test. These are available at no cost through ECDOH. Call (716) 858-2929 to schedule, or visit www.erie.gov/covidtestsites for a location near you. ECDOH recommends a diagnostic test for anyone who feels they are at risk for COVID-19, those with a recent travel history to states with a high level of community transmission, close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases, and people who have COVID-19 symptoms.

Erie County Department of Health COVID-19 Information Line: (716) 858-2929

Erie County Department of Health, COVID-19 test sites: www.erie.gov/covidtestsites

Erie County Department of Health, COVID-19 data and map: www.erie.gov/covidmap