Good afternoon I’m Thomas Shults with NCC News. Today is Wednesday, October 14th. Here are today’s top stories.
Voluntary teacher testing for COVID-19 in Onondaga County has been postponed. 60 teachers and staff were supposed to be tested today, but logistical issues have interfered.
After one bus driver for North Syracuse Central School District tested positive for the coronavirus, 15 more are in quarantine due to contact tracing. But assistant superintended Don Keegan says the district has enough drivers to fill in. 3,000 of the students in the district take the bus to school.
If two new measures are implemented in buildings, COVID-19 infection risk could minimize by four times, according to Syracuse University professor Jianshun Zhang’s research brief. The two key components are to add plastic partitions between seats, and to change ventilation systems. But the strategy works best, if both components are implemented
Jianshun Zhang: “The idea is that you have combined the semi-open partitions with the air flow patterns in a space. So air flow patterns should be that supply the air from the lower level to the occupied space like cubicles– and to the upper level, and then exhaust it to the outside.”
Onondaga County is about 1,000 voters away from breaking the record for number of registered voters. The deadline to register passed last Friday, but the Onondaga County Board of Elections is still adding new voters in records. They say they’ll know for sure if the record was broken next week.
As cold weather approaches, Syracuse restaurant owners are worried about how weather will impact the restaurant’s bottom line. The coronavirus has limited indoor seating, and some restaurants have relied on outdoor seating. Alexandro Gonzales, co-owner of Margarita’s Mexican Cantina expects his restaurant revenue to drop 20 to 30 percent.
We’ll have more information on these stories and more, in our newscasts this afternoon. Tune in at 4 and 4:45. Follow us on Twitter @NCCNewsOnline for the latest. And find our stories online at N-C-C News dot Newhouse dot SYR dot edu. For N-C-C News, I’m Thomas Shults.
