COVID halts school meals program
‘Abundance of caution,’ though food service worker’s test result might be false positive
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The Kingston school district suspended all food-service operations Thursday “out of an abundance of caution” after a food worker tested positive for COVID-19, according to the district.
A statement posted on the district website said the shutdown was implemented even though “the Ulster County Department of Health believes this may be a false positive and is sending this test result to NYS laboratory for re-examination.”
The worker who tested positive was not feeling sick when she got the test and does not feel ill, according to school district Superintendent Paul Padalino.
In a phone interview and during a Facebook Live event Thursday, Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said the county is fairly certain that the school food worker and “several, potentially all” of the nine other
individuals in the county whose test results came back positive Wednesday are, in fact, not infected with the coronavirus.
All 10 positive tests were rerun by the laboratory and tested negative, Ryan said. But he said each of the individuals who initially tested positive would be contacted by one of 12 Ulster County tracers “by the end of the day” Thursday and will be retested. Results of those tests were expected in 24 to 48 hours, he said.
The Kingston school district, like many others, has been distributing meals to students even though school buildings are closed and all instruction is being given online. On its website, the Kingston district said information would be available soon about when its meal distribution will resume.
“The safety of our staff, students and community is our number one priority,” the statement read. “The food service kitchens, prep area and vehicles will all undergo both deep cleaning and disinfection. We will continue to work with the [county] Health Department to ensure our facility is ready to resume operations as soon as possible.”
An average of 560 meals per day have been provided to Kingston school district students during the COVID pandemic, and all were prepared in one central kitchen, which has been closed for thorough cleaning. Also, 29 kitchen staffers have been advised to quarantine at home.
The district directed people who need meals in the interim to the website ulstercorps.org/agencies/food-pantries, which has information about services offered by The People’s Place, the Salvation Army, Community Action, Catholic Charities and more.
For more information regarding Kingston school district food services, call (845) 943-3663 or email foodservice@kingstoncityschools.org. Also, the Ulster County Department of Health can be reached at (845) 443-8888.
Ryan said anyone in the county with food insecurity concerns should call (845) 443-8888 or go to covid19. ulstercountyny.gov.
By the numbers
On its online COVID-19 dashboard Thursday, Ulster County reported 10 positive results (including ones Ryan said could be incorrect) out of the most recent 757 tests conducted, a rate of 1.3%. The dashboard showed 115 active cases of COVID in the county as of Wednesday, up from 107 a day earlier.
There have been a total of 2,268 cases of COVID-19 in Ulster County since the local outbreak began in March, including 2,058 recoveries and 95 deaths.
Dutchess County’s online COVID dashboard on Thursday reported 138 active cases as of Tuesday, down from 140 a day earlier.
There have been a total of 5,089 cases of the virus in Dutchess County since March, including 4,795 recoveries and 156 deaths.