COVID updates: City employees may get vaccine bonus, at-home test kits to be distributed

Towns in Monroe County are beginning to announce their plans for distributing free COVID-19 rapid antigen at-home test kits.

The county bought 750,000 kits, which each contain two tests, to slow the spread of the virus going into the holidays. The rapid antigen test, while less accurate than PCR tests, still will catch 90% to 95% of cases, health officials said, do it in real time and will detect individuals who are contagious.

Of the total, 250,000 kits are being set aside for school-age children, said County Executive Adam Bello. School districts will have a variety of methods to send kits home.

The other 500,000 kits are going to municipalities, most of which have announced how they will get them into the hands of residents:

Free COVID tests for Brighton residents

The town of Brighton will distribute kits to Brighton residents at a drive-thru event from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at Temple B'rith Kodesh, 2131 Elmwood Ave., but pedestrians and bicyclists are welcome, too. Each adult will be given one kit, while supplies last, and have to show proof of town residency.

Free COVID testing kits for Chili residents

The town of Chili will distribute kits to Chili residents from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, in the lobby of the Community Center, 3237 Chili Ave. Each adult will be given one kit, while supplies last, and have to show proof of town residency.

Free COVID testing kits for Clarkson residents

The town of Clarkson will distribute kits to Clarkson residents from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Stanley Pogroszewski Courthouse, 3655 Lake Road. Masks are required to enter the courthouse, one kit will be distributed per household, while supplies last, and proof of town residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for East Rochester residents

The town/village of East Rochester will distribute kits to residents at a drive-thru event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 18, at the Eyer Building, 317 Main St. One kit will be distributed per household while supplies last.

Free COVID testing kits for Gates residents

Gates residents may begin picking up kits Friday, Dec. 10, at Town Hall, 1605 Buffalo Road. The town also will host a drive-thru distribution event from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15, in the Town Hall parking lot. One kit will be distributed to each adult, while supplies last, and proof of town residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Greece residents

The town of Greece will distribute kits to Greece residents from noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Dec.13, and Tuesday, Dec. 14, at Greece Town Hall, 1 Vince Tofany Blvd. They should use the Meeting Room entrance. Each adult will be given one kit, while supplies last, and have to show proof of town residency.

Free COVID testing kits for Henrietta residents

The town of Henrietta will distribute kits to Henrietta residents at a drive-thru event from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, at Veterans Memorial Park, 595 Calkins Road. Enter at Memorial Drive and continue straight back, forming two lines once past the playground parking lot, and continue around to the distribution site. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, while supplies last, and recipients will have to show proof of town residency.

Free COVID testing kits for Irondequoit residents

The town of Irondequoit will host a drive-thru kit distribution event for town residents from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Irondequoit Department of Public Works, 2629 E. Ridge Road. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, while supplies last, and recipients will have to show proof of town residency.

Free COVID testing kits for Mendon and Honeoye Falls residents

The town of Mendon and village of Honeoye Falls will host drive-thru kit distribution events from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 11, at two locations: St. Catherine of Siena Church, 26 Mendon Ionia Road, and Mendon Community Center, 167 N. Main St. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, while supplies last, and proof of town of village residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Ogden and Spencerport residents

Town of Ogden and village of Spencerport residents will be able to pick up kits from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Ogden Highway Garage, 2432 S. Union St. One kit will be distributed per adult, while supplies last, and proof of town or village residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Parma and Hilton residents

The town of Parma and village of Hilton will distribute kits to residents from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, beginning Dec. 13, at Parma Town Hall, 1300 Hilton Parma Corners Road, and the Village Community Center Recreation Office, 59 Henry St. One kit will be distributed per adult, while supplies last, and proof of town or village residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Penfield residents

The town of Penfield will host a drive-thru kit distribution event for Penfield residents from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 11, at Penfield Town Hall, 3100 Atlantic Ave. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, while supplies last, and proof of town residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Perinton and Fairport residents

The town of Perinton will give out kits at a drive-thru event for Perinton and village of Fairport residents from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Perinton Department of Public Works, 100 Cobb’s Lane. One kit will be distributed per vehicle while supplies last. Whatever kits are left over will be handed out at Perinton Town Hall and Perinton Community Center, 1350 Turk Hill Road, during regular business hours.

Free COVID testing kits for Pittsford residents

Pittsford will host a drive-thru kit distribution event for town and village residents from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, while supplies last, at Pittsford Mendon High School, 472 Mendon Road. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, and proof of residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Riga and Churchville residents

Town of Riga and village of Churchville residents will be able to pick up kits, while supplies last, at a drive-thru distribution event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Churchville Volunteer Fire Department, 24 Washington St., Churchville. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, and proof of residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Rochester residents

Kits will be available to city of Rochester residents from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Adams Street R-Center, 85 Adams St., and the Thomas P. Ryan R-Center, 530 Webster Ave.. They will be available from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, at the Trenton and Pamela Jackson R-Center, 485 N. Clinton Ave. They will be available from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19, at the Edgerton R-Center, 41 Backus St.

Free COVID testing kits for Rush residents

The town of Rush will host a drive-thru kit distribution event for Rush residents from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 11, while supplies last, in the parking lot at Rush Town Hall, 5977 East Henrietta Road. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, and proof of residency is required.

Free COVID testing kits for Sweden and Brockport residents

The town of Sweden will host two drive-thru kit distribution events for Sweden and village of Brockport residents from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, while supplies last, at Sweden Town Hall, 18 State St., and the Sweden/Clarkson Community Center, 4927 lake Road. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, and proof of residency is be required.

Free COVID testing kits for Webster residents

Webster will host a drive-thru kit distribution event for town and village residents from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, in Xerox campus parking lot 147, off of Orchard Street. One kit will be distributed per vehicle, and proof of residency is be required.

Free COVID testing kits for Wheatland and Scottsville residents

Town of Wheatland and village of Scottsville residents will be able to pick up kits from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, while supplies last, at the Mumford Fire Department, 1013 Main St., Mumford, and Wheatland Town Hall, 22 Main St., Scottsville. One kit will be distributed to each adult, and proof of residency is required.

This story will be updated as more distribution plans are announced.

Rochester eyes $200 vaccine bonuses for city employees

Mayor James Smith wants to pay city employees to get their COVID-19 vaccine, or booster shot.

A proposal now before City Council would reward employees with $200 bonuses if they get vaccinated before June 30. The goal is to get at least 75% of the city government workforce vaccinated. If that target is reached by the end of January, all employees who report their vaccination status to the administration will be entered into a drawing for one of 20 additional $500 bonuses. The program would be paid for with $350,000 from the city's American Rescue Plan funds.

"The program is intended to promote herd immunity among city employees, which will protect the health of the employees' families, friends, and neighbors as well as city residents who visit City Hall and other city workplaces," Smith wrote City Council members.

In a statement, Smith said that Mayor-elect Malik Evans and City Council President Loretta Scott support the effort.

Second-highest single-day total of cases

Monroe County's Department of Public Health reported 803 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

That's the second-highest single-day total for new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. The record is 838 cases on Dec. 31, 2020, according to data from New York State's Department of Health.

Tuesday's reported total included the results of 325 home tests that were reported to Monroe County's health department between Dec.1 and Dec. 6.

The seven-day new case rolling average is 590 new cases per day.

Four hundred and ninety-four individuals are hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Finger Lakes Region, which is a decline of 5 from Monday. 119 of these hospitalized patients are in ICU, down 3 from the previous day.

The seven-day average positiity rate for COVID-19 tests is 9.4%.

Hospitals pause elective inpatient procedures

Rochester Regional Health is postponing all non-essential elective inpatient surgeries and procedures at some of its facilities for at least two weeks starting Thursday, Dec. 9.

The move is in keeping with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Nov. 26 executive order requiring hospitals with less than 10% percent inpatient bed capacity to postpone non-emergency procedures.

Rochester General Hospital and Unity Hospital are two of the affected facilities, a Rochester Regional spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.

Newark-Wayne Community Hospital is not on the state health department impacted-facilities list, the spokesperson said. “However, Rochester Regional has proactively decided to suspend inpatient elective surgeries there this week.”

Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic, United Memorial Medical Center, office-based procedures and ambulatory surgery centers are not affected.

“We are actively communicating with impacted patients and hope to resume inpatient surgeries at Rochester General and Unity as soon as it’s possible," she said, adding that patients should not delay necessary care.

On Monday, University of Rochester Medical Center announced a three-week pause on elective and semi-elective surgical procedures requiring inpatient stays at its facilities, including Strong Memorial Hospital.

“The pause on elective inpatient surgeries will help UR Medicine maintain capacity for acute-care patients as COVID hospitalizations increase in the Finger Lakes region,” URMC said in a statement. “Most UR Medicine hospitals already had postponed many of these elective inpatient cases in recent weeks, so relatively few scheduled surgeries will be delayed. Patients will be contacted directly if their case must be postponed; they do not need to contact their surgeon’s office.”

MCH to reduce pressure on hospitals

The first of an expected 40 patient transfers from local hospitals to Monroe Community Hospital has begun. The National Guard has assisted in alleviating staffing shortages at MCH, as officials work to relieve capacity pressures on hospitals seeing a continued surge in COVID-positive patients (500 are hospitalized in the Finger Lakes region, with nearly 80% of those in ICU being un-vaccinated, officials said).

"The hospitals are still under an incredible amount of stress," said Monroe County Executive Adam Bello.

The 26 National Guard members committed to the local area are said to be the most of any region in the state. But Bello added: "We'll accept more."

"Until the hospitals are decompressed here, it's never going to be enough," he said, though adding the National Guard is addressing a problem, best addressed by more people getting vaccinated to minimize the severity of infection.

The transfers are "alternate level of care patients," a hospital term, who do not require acute care and meet set criteria for what MCH is equipped and staffed to handle. These are folks with a host of histories who need long-term care or rehabilitation, for example. MCH is a residential and chronic care facility.

For perspective, MCH can accommodate less than half the "alternate level of care patients" there are just at UR Medicine facilities in Monroe County. There were 46 such patients at Strong Memorial as of Monday; 38 at Highland — for a total of 84, a spokesman said. Given that they are spread across hospital units, hospital officials also are talking about grouping them in one unit that could be staffed like a nursing home.

Contact reporter Brian Sharp at bdsharp@gannett.com or at 585-258-2275. Follow him on Twitter @sharproc. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This story includes reporting by staff writer Marcia Greenwood.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: COVID updates: Rochester workers may get vaccine bonus; test kits available