The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
‘Precaution’ to be key during reopening in Oneida County
UTICA, N.Y. » Oneida County is still confident that it will be ready to reopen as part of phase one in the state’s restart plan, which will take effect after May 15. As the county prepares, County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. sees a long road ahead.
Precaution was a major theme present in Picente’s press briefing on Wednesday. He shared that it’s taken the county, and the region, much effort, and sacrifice to get to a point where some activity can restart. Once phase one begins, this work needs to continue in order to keep moving forward, he said.
He advised residents that masks should still be worn and people should continue to keep a safe distance, just as they have been doing to
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help stop the virus’s spread.
The county has added a “Restart Oneida County” page to its website to help guide business owners in the days ahead.
Though phase one does not mean things will resume back to “normal,” it does mean that the county is moving and getting people back to work. Picente is hopeful to see a positive outcome from this for residents, both mentally and economically.
He shared that a combination of county pandemic spending and decreased revenues have hit the area hard. On top of this, the state as a whole has been affected, and he worries that federal funding won’t come through for the counties. “We need to find a way to fund local governments,” he stated.
The Board of Legislatures has voted on a package that sets aside nearly 8 million dollars in county spending, Picente announced. He stated that the money is “just going to touch the surface” in terms of what the county will need long term, but it’s a start.
On a more positive note, the county does seem to be back on track with its regular COVID-19 numbers after undergoing effects from the outbreak at Green Empire Farms in Madison County. On May 13 there were 13 new positive cases to report, bringing the total discovered in the county since the pandemic’s beginning to 680. The number of COVID-19 related fatalities is at 23.
The hospitalization rate has managed to stay mostly stable for the past several weeks, with 25 cases currently hospitalized—19 admitted within the county, six admitted outside.
There are 342 active positive cases. 315 cases have resolved and are free from quarantine.
The county has conducted 5,335 tests so far.
New public exposure announcements will continue to arise as positive cases are traced by the Health Department. Recent potential public exposure notices for Oneida County are as follows:
• On May 6 an Oneida County resident who has tested positive for COVID-19 was at the Price Chopper located at 1917 Genesee St. in Utica between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Risk to the public is low as the person was wearing a mask. Anyone who was in the store during that time period should monitor themselves for symptoms until May 20 and contact their health care provider if symptoms develop. You do not have to automatically self-quarantine.
• On May 9 an Oneida County resident who has tested positive for COVID-19 was at the Price Chopper located at 4535 Commercial Drive in New Hartford between 11:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Risk to the public is low as the person was wearing a mask. Anyone who was in the store during that time period should monitor themselves for symptoms until May 23 and contact their health care provider if symptoms develop. You do not have to automatically self-quarantine.
• Upon further investigation, a potential public exposure previously reported as May 8, has now been determined to have occurred on May 7. On that day, an Oneida County resident who has tested positive for COVID-19 was at three locations where risk to the public is low as the person was wearing a mask. Anyone who was at these locations during the listed time periods should monitor themselves for symptoms until May 21 and contact their health care provider if symptoms develop. You do not have to automatically self-quarantine. The locations are as follows:
•Price Chopper, 1790 Black River Boulevard in Rome, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
•Walmart, 5815 Rome-taberg Road in Rome between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.
•Cliff’s Local Market, 2007 N. James St. in Rome between 12 p.m. and 12:15 p.m.
Oneida County has additionally renewed and/or amended a few executive orders relating to the pandemic and are as follows:
•Pursuant to the State of Emergency declared in Oneida County on March 13 and provisions of section 24 of the New York State Executive Law in Section 302 of the Oneida County Administrative Code, it is ordered that applicable provisions of the Oneida County Charter and Administrative Code as well as all local laws, ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies, and procedures concerning the purchasing of any and all supplies, commodities, and services necessary to support the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, are hereby suspended. All purchases made pursuant to this Executive Order shall require the approval of the County Executive and the Oneida County Chief of Staff or the Oneida County Budget Director.
•Additionally, it is further ordered that all emergency budget transfers with respect to supporting the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency are hereby suspended. All such emergency budget transfers made pursuant to this Executive Order shall require the approval of the Oneida County Executive and the Chairman of the Oneida County Board of Legislators and shall be subject to later ratification by the Board of Legislators.
•Lastly, the authorization, approval, and expenditures of Capital Project Funds for the Department of Information Technology for any and all supplies, commodities, and services necessary to support the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency are hereby suspended. Pursuant to this Executive Order, the Director of Information Technology (DIT) is authorized to approve any Capital Project expenditures without the prior approval of the Oneida County Commissioner of Public works, the Deputy Commissioner of Public Works (Engineering), or the Oneida County Comptroller. The DIT shall promptly notify those necessary of each and every expenditure authorized pursuant to this executive order.
•These amended and renewed executive orders shall take effect immediately and shall remain in effect for a period of 5 days. The orders may be renewed for additional periods of 5 days each.