BUFFALO, N.Y. — Residents of Erie County will soon be able to turn to their hometown government to receive a COVID-19 test kit.
The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) is working with county town, village and city officials to distribute nearly 40,000 at-home antigen test kits. Each box includes two antigen tests, for a total of about 80,000 tests.
“The primary responsibility of county government is to promote the health and welfare of its citizens. That is why I am pleased to announce we are distributing 80,000 rapid COVID-19 tests to our local municipalities, who will then distribute the test kits to their residents," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
"I thank our local mayors, supervisors and emergency managers for agreeing to expeditiously distribute these kits starting tomorrow, Saturday, January 8. At a time when Erie County is experiencing an extraordinary surge of COVID-19 cases, this coordinated effort will put rapid tests into the hands of Erie County residents.”
The county originally planned to hand out the kits through the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library system and drive-through sites, but made the change based on library staffing and weather conditions.
The plan now is to send the test kits directly to the local governments for more convenient and equitable access. Quantities were determined based on population and each household is limited to two boxes (four tests).
“This is not a one-and-done event,” Poloncarz continued. “My administration and the health department are committed to providing additional testing supplies and PPE to our residents to support public health and safety, especially for residents in our county who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection.”
Erie County residents can report a positive at home test result using this form. If you or a family member does get a positive result, that person should isolate, staying at home and away from other people according to current guidance.
A portion of the county's supply was also shared with child care providers through the Child Care Resource Network, as well as homeless shelters and Code Blue sites in the county.
Additional distributions will be announced once further details are worked out.