PRESS RELEASE (March 19, 2020 @ 2:00 p.m.)
Chairman of the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors, Jerry L. Davis, reports: “As of 1:00 p.m. today, we still only have one case of COVID-19 confirmed, which was from the Northwest Quadrant of the county. We have had five cases, which were negative for COVID-19.
There are twenty-three results pending over the coming days and more confirmed cases are expected. Testing kits are in short supply and after repeated requests to the State of New York, we have been unable to secure additional test kits. Personal protective equipment is another limited resource in short supply and those requests have been pending for over a week.
I have instructed the Director of Fire and Emergency Management, Brian Meyers, to open our county Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to coordinate the overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The EOC will open tomorrow morning with its primary mission to support county operations and direct COVID-19 incident needs.
Chief Executive Officer, Joseph McTernan, of the Wyoming County Community Health System has also opened the Hospital Command Center (HCC) to support impending surge capacity and day to day operations of the health system. They will work in conjunction with the county EOC to attempt to secure needed resources of first responders, public health and health system staff.
I understand businesses have many concerns and there are many unknown answers as to legislation that will come out of Albany or Washington. If you are a business, I encourage you to reach out to Scott Gardner from the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce. Scott will be working with the county EOC on short term and long term needs of our county businesses. Scott can be reached at 585-786-0307.
As a reminder, we will not be releasing specific information regarding residency. Our environment and population is different than Erie and Monroe Counties, for example the population in the Town of Cheektowaga is twice that of the entire County of Wyoming. However, we want to be as transparent to our concerning public as we can while maintaining our legal and privacy obligations. For our purposes regarding residency, we will be breaking down the county townships and reporting in quadrants: 1. Northwest- Attica, Bennington, Orangeville, Sheldon 2. Southwest- Arcade, Eagle, Java, Wethersfield 3. Southeast- Castile, Gainesville, Genesee Falls, Pike 4. Northeast- Covington, Middlebury, Perry, Warsaw
Remember, most people with COVID-19 can recover at home. Please stay at home as much as possible and take sensible precautions including avoiding crowds, frequent handwashing, the six feet social distancing practices and avoid touching your face. Please check on community members that might need assistance, be a good neighbor – this is what we do in Wyoming County. Thank you to everyone who has offered to volunteer their assistance. A future update will give more information on how to volunteer where you are needed most. Residents are urged not to respond to unreliable information. Consult the CDC and NYSDOH websites for federal and state updates and the Wyoming County website for daily local updates. Call the NYS COVID-19 hotline at 888-364-3065 with general questions. Finally, our lives have certainly been interrupted by all these changes – things definitely look different than they did just a couple weeks ago. Someone said recently, it will be impossible to know if we over-reacted or did too much…but it will be quite apparent if we under-reacted or did too little. Thank you for doing your part.
If you think you have been exposed to Coronavirus (COVID-19) and develop a fever and symptoms, such as cough or difficulty breathing, call your healthcare provider for medical advice. Please don’t just present yourself at the Emergency Room or your Doctor’s office. It is vital you call your healthcare provider in advance, which also allows for preparation of patients. Current measures being taken are to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the health of residents. Some people are at increased risk for COVID-19, including older adults and those with chronic health conditions such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specificgroups/high-risk-complications.html#who-is-higher-risk
Residents should respond to accurate information, including: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
New York State Department of Health https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/
NYS Department of Health COVID-19 Hotline (888) 364-3065
Please check the County website www.wyomingco.net for hours of operation and instructions for face to face business at essential county departments and general updates
No contact tracing released to the public ? Why? Shouldn’t WE know if individual 1 visited public places??