Sullivan County Officials Asks Summer Residents Not to Seek Refuge in Summer Homes

NEW YORK
Sullivan County Public Health Services Building. (sullivanny.gov)

Sullivan County officials asked that owners of summer homes refrain from seeking refuge in the mountains from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak which is plaguing the state.

Public Health Director Nancy McGraw and Sullivan County Manager Joshua Potosek jointly said, “Sullivan County currently has multiple cases of COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) and is responding as aggressively and proactively as its limited resources allow. While you may be seeking refuge from the larger amount of cases downstate, you must be aware that this is a global pandemic. You and your family have a critical role to fulfill in halting the rapid spread of this potentially deadly virus, which can be dangerous and even fatal to the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted New York State, which is responding with all resources to contain a growing number of cases, which included 2,480 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths as of midday March 18. Sullivan County has several confirmed cases, and the number of potential exposures is increasing, requiring a great deal of resources by Public Health and other government personnel to contain and limit further transmission.

The county officials declared that travel into Sullivan County from any area at this time is inadvisable and is highly discouraged. In particular, they asked that people not travel there from another county or geographic area (including the five boroughs of New York City) which is experiencing community transmission of COVID-19.

They noted that it is far better to stay home and restrict movements. In addition, the resources of Sullivan County are in short supply, and testing capacity is very limited as well. They made a point of informing non year-round residents not to expect that resources will be available in the county that are not available elsewhere.

“Local healthcare providers are deeply impacted by this current crisis,” they warned, “and cannot be expected to handle an enormous increase in patient requests.”

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!