By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On May 8, the Madison County Health Department and Madison County Board of Supervisors provided residents with another update on the ongoing COVID-19 response.
At the time of the briefing, Madison County reported the following numbers:
2,136 patients tested
54 test results pending
1,811 negative tests
271 positive tests
131 patients recovered
7 deaths
At the start of the press briefing, John Becker, Chairman of the Madison County Board of Supervisors, announced that the individuals who tested positive at the Green Empire Farms greenhouses are now in quarantine. The chairman also noted that NYS Agriculture and Markets toured the facility twice on May 5 and reported that the conditions are up to code.
The City of Oneida Code Enforcement also toured the greenhouse and found no problems.
Public Health Director Eric Faisst reported that the health department tested 186 Green Empire Farms employees on Saturday, May 2 and 151 individuals on Tuesday, May 5. After two days of targeted testing, 83 positive cases were identified in Madison County, 51 of the employees tested negative and 21 were placed into quarantine due to their contact with the positive cases.
The health department contacted all of the people who tested positive and conducted thorough contact tracing.
“The health department continues to work with the greenhouse and the contractors to review and improve upon the conditions of their protocols to ensure the workers are protected,” Faisst said. “ . . . There were some concerns we had about the number of people being transported in the vehicles. We’ve asked for additional plans from the green house and contractors to improve the situations in the vehicles, and we also asked them to improve situations in the break rooms. We want to see better plans.”
Faisst reminded residents that when an individual is considered “recovered” and taken off isolation/quarantine, they are free to go back to work, go out into the community, and go about their lives.
“We ask that people do not stereotype or single individuals out,” he said. “If they have recovered from this horrible virus, all they want to do is get back to work and get back to their normal lives — whatever that new normal is at this moment.”
Faisst also noted that there are 32 positive cases throughout the county that are not related to the greenhouse.
Later in the briefing, Becker said the county hospital emergency rooms are open and that there are currently no positive cases in the ICU or in the hospitals.
He also commented that he is eager to get Madison County businesses opened back up.
“We don’t think it’s fair that big box stores get to open up and sell all kinds of stuff while our small businesses are hurting right now and closed,” he said. “ . . . Hopefully the governor sees the [need for businesses to open up] and we can quickly get things moving along here.”
All general, non-medical questions regarding COVID-19 should be directed to the new Madison County COVID-19 Hotline at 315-366-2770.
For more information about the novel Coronavirus, visit Madison County at madisoncounty.ny.gov/2479/Coronavirus-COVID-19, call the New York State Coronavirus Hotline at 1-888-364-3065, and visit CDC at cdc.gov/coronavirus.
