BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — On Friday, members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District toured the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center with representatives from Erie County and the center's director.
The team is touring sites around the region to determine if they are suitable for a mass COVID-19 hospital, and the convention center is being considered.
According to a tweet from Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, the center's suitability to be a mass hospital site "looks promising."
Today I joined @ErieCountyDPW Com. @williamgearyjr @BFLOconvention Dir. Paul Murphy, @USACE_Buffalo staff and others on a walk through of the Convention Center to determine its suitability for a mass #COVID19 Hospital for WNY. Don't have final analysis yet but looks promising. pic.twitter.com/O2O4f6679j
— Mark Poloncarz (@markpoloncarz) March 27, 2020
In addition to the convention center site, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has toured other sites in the region, including in western Pennsylvania.
We finished a facility assessment for potential alternate care facilities for COVID-19 patients in PA. Across the Nation, #USACE has over 15K personnel engaged in this fight & we're working with our partners, stakeholders & the American people to help save lives! #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/TlD3Q6cwao
— USACE Buffalo (@USACE_Buffalo) March 27, 2020
As of Friday, there are 245 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Erie County. There are 44,635 in New York State. It's unclear whether a mass COVID-19 hospital in the area would only treat local patients, or if patients would come from other regions.
