Erie County Department of Health The vocal parent group Western New York Students First wants Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein fired by the county executive for not allowing wide reopening of schools. The county Health Department said there are a lot of COVID-infected kids in schools, like 642 reported cases last week and 86 Sunday and Monday. And the numbers are rising. The group’s leaders said kids are being infected outside of the classroom and they could return under guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The kids are catching these in sports and in everything else that is open in the community," said Students First leader Tarja Parssinen. "And so, what prioritizes football over your math class? And the good news is, with the kids that are catching COVID, is that the risk to them, the severe health risks are very, very, very low and that when they properly wear masks at school, that transmission stops."