Dutchess food program ends, testing sites to close
KINGSTON, N.Y. » Citing waning demand and lower coronavirus infection numbers, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said the Dutchess Responds Food Connection will fold this week and that Nuvance/Healthquest will close two testing facilities.
On Wednesday afternoon, at his 24th Facebook Live town hall event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Molinaro said the Food Connection has been a “critical resource” for residents and has delivered more than 14,000 meals over the past 14 weeks to families in the county that were adversely impacted by the pandemic.
More than 660 inquiries were made to the Food Connection since its inception in March and nearly 600 households were served, he said.
Molinaro said the demand for the Food Connection diminished as Dutchess County government connected residents to the Department of Community and Family Services for benefits, including unemployment. Additionally, he said Dutchess County Public Transit buses have resumed full service, enabling more residents to shop for themselves; and as the countywide infection rate has decreased, residents are more comfortable shopping in public. He said public transportation will remain free of charge in Dutchess County until “around Aug. 1.”
The Dutchess Responds Food Connection was a collaboration Dutchess County government, Dutchess Outreach and the Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County.
According to the Dutchess County COVID-19 dashboard, there were 180 active cases of COVID-19 in the county on Wednesday. There have been 4,207 confirmed cases of the virus and 3,876 of those cases are now recovered. One hundred and fifty-one Dutchess County residents have died of COVID-19 and only seven remain hospitalized.
Reached by email Wednesday, Ulster County Assistant Deputy County Executive Daniel Torres said Ulster’s Project Resilience, which was established just prior to Dutchess Responds, has delivered more than 260,000 meals and groceries to Ulster County families.
“At this time the program is still operating,” Torres wrote.
Molinaro said the Dutchess County COVID-19 specimen collection site at
the Intermodal Center at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill will close on Thursday. He said Nuvance/HealthQuest, which has operated the site, will offer testing at Nuvance Health Medical Practices’ urgent care centers on state Route 55 in LaGrange and U.S. Route 9 in Wappingers Falls and at other Nuvance Health facilities.
For other COVID-19 testing sites in Dutchess County, visit dutchessny. gov/coronavirustesting.
Ulster County has
closed one mobile testing site in response to lower case numbers.
On Tuesday, the coronavirus mobile testing site at TechCity in the town of Ulster closed and Nuvance/HealthQuest, which operates it, instead will offer testing at medical offices, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said on Friday.
Since the town of Ulster site opened on March 23, some 7,500 tests were conducted there, Ulster County Executive Ryan
said last week.
According to the Ulster County COVID-19 dashboard, there are 126 active cases of COVID-19 in the county. There have been 1,809 confirmed cases of the virus and of those 1,597 have recovered. Eighty-six Ulster County residents have died of COVID-19.
In other coronavirusrelated news, to help address the financial challenges Dutchess County is facing as a result of the pandemic, Molinaro said
county government has developed a “separation incentive,” or early retirement, program for county employees. He said the voluntary program includes incentives for retirement and separation and is the result of “dramatic reductions in sales tax revenues” which are the county’s largest single source of revenue, as well as delayed state and federal aid.