ALBANY (AP) — Students, teachers and staff in New York schools were still required to wear masks Monday, despite a conflicting letter from the governor's health commissioner released days earlier. The state Education Department sent school district leaders guidance Sunday that said schools ...
NEW YORK (AP) — New York will lift more COVID-19 rules once 70% of adults have at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, a target that Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday he hoped his state could reach in days. And the Empire State building will light up in blue and gold once New York hits the threshold, Cuomo said. About 68.7% of New York adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest federal data. A smaller percentage of New York's overall 20 million residents have received at least one dose: so far, 56% — or 11 million residents. New York ...
As local employers continue to work to build up their workforce and bring employees back into a variety of workplaces, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stepped in to provide some additional guidance to make all workplaces safer. The EEOC now says that employers are allowed to require that employees get vaccinated against COVID-19, and they can also provide incentives to employees who get the shots. But there are some caveats. The new EEOC language allows employers to require the vaccine, and to provide incentives – including cash incentives — but they must also ...
The Dunkirk Independence Day fireworks are always “up in the air.” But because of COVID-19, this year they are in the figurative sense, too. Responding to speculation in the community that the 2021 edition was off, Dunkirk Mayor Willie Rosas said Friday that plans are still in place to hold them July 4. However, he acknowledged that New York state COVID-19 restrictions related to large gatherings will have the final say. “We are planning on hosting our annual fireworks display as long as (the state) lifts the restrictions,” Rosas said. “That will be the main reason we ...
More people are shedding their masks these days, and it’s obvious they’re happy about it. You can see it in the smiles that have been hidden for so long. With the Centers for Disease Control’s recent announcement that fully vaccinated people no longer must wear masks to protect from COVID-19, many businesses have followed suit. Walmart no longer requires masks of fully vaccinated staff and customers. Nor does Tops. Wegmans originally stated its mask mandates would remain, but later changed course to follow the lead of other stores. Yet, as those businesses have tossed aside ...
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fifth straight week to a new pandemic low, the latest evidence that the U.S. job market is regaining its health as the economy further reopens. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless ...
