Odell Requests Testing Site Be Set Up in Putnam for COVID-19
Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell has formally requested that the state Health Department establish a COVID-19 testing site in Putnam County.
As of Thursday, there were 109 reported positive cases of coronavirus in Putnam.
Odell argued the lack of a state-run testing site in Putnam was putting county healthcare workers, first responders and residents at risk.
“We need our own testing site so we can be sure of the accuracy of the results,” Odell said. “Secondhand information can be unreliable. Our first responders and health care workers need all the accurate information possible to protect themselves and our communities.”
The Putnam County Health Department is out of test kits and symptomatic residents must now travel to Westchester and Dutchess counties, Bear Mountain State Park or Danbury, Connecticut to get testing.
Putnam County Commissioner of Health Dr. Michael Nesheiwat said the information on positive test results coming from out of county sites was often incomplete, explaining every testing site location is providing information in a different format. In addition, much of the patient information is incomplete and numbers per municipality are skewed because zip codes overlap municipalities in Putnam.
“Sometimes a positive test report contains too little information to track a case,” Dr. Nesheiwat said. “We can’t operate in the dark. We need full, complete information to best protect the health and safety of our residents.”
“The Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services, the Sheriff’s Department and local police, fire and ambulance corps need to know what they are facing when they answer an emergency call,” said Ken Clair, Commissioner of the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services. “Are people in the home carrying COVID-19? Is the neighborhood a hot zone? Are our first responders being exposed without knowing it?”
Legislator Amy Sayegh, chair of the Health Committee, said Putnam residents deserve the same access to COVID-19 tests as residents of larger counties.
“Just because we are a small county doesn’t mean we should be treated like an afterthought,” Sayegh said. “Our residents need a convenient place to find out if they have been infected with coronavirus so they can take steps to protect their own families and community.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/