HUDSON—A thirty-third person has died of coronavirus in Columbia County as of May 30 at noon.
Among the dead are 12 residents of the Pine Haven Nursing Home in Philmont and 15 residents of The Grand at Barnwell in Valatie, according to the Columbia County Department of Health (DOH).
The DOH has received confirmed positive test results for 385 community members. There are 126 active cases of Covid-19 in Columbia County.
There are 54 additional residents on mandatory quarantine and 5 residents on precautionary quarantine; 226 of the 385 cases have recovered from Covid-19; 16 of the positive cases are hospitalized, 1 of those hospitalized is in the ICU.
The DOH received a total of 4,271 PCR test results and 1,211 antibody results, of which 128 were positive.
Chairman urges: ‘follow the plan’
“In previous press releases, we passed along information learned in meetings with state officials that a business opening in violation of the governor’s Executive Order and the New York Forward four-phase plan may not be covered through their insurance,” Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell said in the May 30 county-issued Covid-19 update press release.
“Late this week, the possibility of the State Liquor Authority pulling an establishment’s liquor license before their time to open has been authorized by the Executive Order was discussed. As it turns out, I learned this morning that a local business, following several warnings, has had its license suspended for operating in violation of the Order,” Chairman Murell said in the press release.
“The way I understand it, anyone operating in New York under a state-issued license faces the same type of penalty. Business owners should think through the consequences of their actions. We want to see businesses succeed. Personally, if I were a business owner looking to open in any of the next three phases, I would be taking this time to prepare for the things I’ll need to do to operate safely for both my customers and staff. I understand that keeping up with guidance coming down from the state and federal governments’ is a full-time job all by itself, but I think it’s critical that we all do our part to create a safe environment for everyone,” the chairman said.
Columbia County, as part of the Capital Region, looks to reopen under Phase II of New York Forward on Wednesday, June 3.
Guidelines and templates relating to business reopening plans can be found at https://columbiacomeback.com/resources/phase-one.