Chautauqua County Executive Pushing For Additional COVID-19 Reopening Phases

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MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County’s Executive is pushing for additional COVID-19 reopening phases and more guidance from New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Executive PJ Wendel, speaking with WNYNewsNow’s Justin Gould on Friday during our daily noon broadcast, announced his stance on the topic.

“That does not mean we are going backwards by adding more phases, what it does, as we’ve talked about in our control room, is a phrase ‘expectation management’ and that is what we are looking to do, is remind people that we continue to wear a mask, we continue to follow our social protocols, because this disease is still here,” explained Executive Wendel.

Wendel says both New York State Senator George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell have supported the idea.

He says there are still several unanswered questions like where nursing homes will fit into the reopening process.

“It is not only the residents that need the love and affection of people, but it’s also those on the outside who may have a terminal illnesses or diseases that they are not able to see their relatives that are in nursing homes over a period of time,” said Wendel.

Wendel is also continuing to push for more guidance on the reopening of gyms, fitness centers and movie theaters.

“What do they look forward to? Is it two weeks? Is it three weeks? Those types of things need to be understood, it helps everybody get through this,” Wendel said. “For those who have said, ‘hey we’re in phase four, what do I need to do this for? We’re done, we are out of the woods now,’ well, we’re not.”

He says that Lt. Gov. Kathy Hocul has forwarded the idea to Governor Cuomo for consideration.