Mobile testing to start by Monday
People with exposure, vulnerability, symptoms will get priority, executive and health boss say
Ulster County expects to begin mobile testing for the coronavirus by “Monday at the latest,” County Executive Pat Ryan said Wednesday.
Ulster County Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith said the county is responding “fast and furiously” to the spread of the virus, also known as COVID-19.
Ryan and Smith spoke during a live town hall event on Facebook midday Wednesday that reached nearly 5,000 people. Smith said 114 Ulster County residents had been tested for the virus so far, only nine were confirmed as having it, and all of them were “recovering well.”
“We’re certainly glad to see that,” she said.
Elsewhere in the region, according to state statistics and officials of local counties, there were 20 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Dutchess County, 32 in Orange County, two in Greene County, four in Sullivan County and one in Delaware County.
Ryan said Ulster County no longer will provide identifying information about individual cases, such as where the patients live or how old they are. He said that decision was based on “protecting individuals and their families.”
Ryan said one reason for the planned mobile testing in
Ulster County is “many doctors and providers are just not set up to receive individuals who might have COVID-19. We see the need for us as a government ... to set up and fill the gap.”
A site for the mobile testing was not announced Wednesday.
Ryan and Smith cautioned that not all county residents who wish to be tested will, in fact, be tested. They said a team of volunteers and public health nurses staffing the county’s COVID-19 hotline, along with primary-care doctors and other providers, will be “triaging” those who wish to be tested based on exposure, vulnerability and symptoms.
“We would love to be able to test everybody, but it’s just
impossible because of the relative scarcity of this test,” Smith said.
Smith also stressed that “this is flu season,” and “not all coughs and sneezes are COVID-19.” Still, she said, anyone with a high fever, shortness of breath and worsening systems should go to an emergency room.
There were 2,382 confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide as of Monday afternoon, more than half of which were in New York City.
And because Ulster County has close ties to New York City, Smith said, “we have to consider the region ... and think regionally” because there is “regional spread” of the virus.
Ryan said that given the lack of widespread testing so far, the number of positive
cases in Ulster County could actually be 100 times what’s been confirmed.
“From everything I’m seeing from epidemiologists and other experts, the number of positive cases is often an order of magnitude, or two orders of magnitude, meaning [up to] 100 times the number of [confirmed] positive cases,” he said. “So ... if we’re approaching, you know, we’re at nine, that would be somewhere closer to one thousand possible individuals who are likely positive, and we just haven’t been able to test everyone.”
Regarding Ulster County school closures, which currently are in effect through March 27, Ryan said any decision about extending the shutdown period would be announced next week.
Asked by a member of the public during Wednesday’s town hall event about people hoarding food, cleaning supplies and other items, including toilet paper, Ryan admitted to being “down to two or three rolls” in his own home.
“If everyone just buys what they need for the next week or two, then we will be fine,” he said.
In other virus-related local developments Wednesday:
• The Ulster County clerk announced the Department of Motor Vehicles office in the County Office Building in Kingston has closed until further notice.
• Ryan announced new daycare guidelines, including reducing attendance to 50 percent.
• Kingston Mayor Steve Noble said all playgrounds
in city parks will close. The parks themselves will remain open.
• Noble said he authorized $30,000 in city funds for Family of Woodstock and The People’s Place.
For more information about COVID-19 and complete daycare guidelines, go to the website ulstercountyny. gov/coronavirus. The Ulster County COVID-19 Hotline can be reached at (845) 443-8888 and the state coronavirus information hotline is at (888) 364-3065.
For related local stories, go to bit.ly/DFCOVID19. For live local updates from around the region, go to bit.ly/DFcovid19live.