KINGSTON – Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan announced Wednesday that Ulster County has had over 2,000 residents recover from COVID-19. Since reporting the county’s first positive case on March 8th, Ulster County has issued over 80,000 coronavirus diagnostic tests and currently, the daily positive test rate has remained under 1.5% for 41 straight days.
“I want to thank the tremendous work of front line workers who have kept our numbers down and helped those impacted recover,” Ryan said. “While this is encouraging news, it does not mean we can ignore the important safety precautions we must all follow to combat COVID-19. It is absolutely critical that we all continue to practice social distancing, wear masks, and wash our hands to avoid a second wave.”
Since Ulster County’s first case of COVID-19 emerged in early March, Ulster County has taken a proactive response to control and counter the pandemic. The County Executive has held over fifty Town Halls and briefings to update the community on the evolving public health situation. On March 13, Ulster County was the first County to close schools ahead of the statewide decision to do so. Additionally, Ulster County was one of the first counties to set up a fully staffed COVID-19 hotline when the first case appeared.
Ulster County also worked to get testing running up and early. Ulster was the first County to set up a mobile drive-through testing site at Tech City, according to Ryan. County Executive Ryan directed the Health Department to put extra emphasis on protecting senior living facilities and established a rapid response team. The rapid response team supported these facilities with testing, PPE, and setting up health protocols.
There are currently 119 active cases of COVID-19 in Ulster County.
NEWS STORY PROVIDED BY: Mid Hudson News -www.midhudsonnews.com