Covid-19 Holiday Season, Vaccines, And What To Expect
COVID-19 HOLIDAY SEASON
SHUTDOWNS, VACCINES, AND WHAT TO EXPECT
Happy 2020 holiday season! We are sorry to announce that the Chamber’s annual holiday cocktail party and our Main Street luminaria event, Cold Spring Aglow, have been canceled this year to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Following the resurgence of the virus, business owners have been asking what is coming and whether we’ll be shut down again. The Chamber has published the guide, below, to explain New York State’s Micro Cluster Strategy and more.
Why aren’t we closed yet?
Last spring, the local schools and the majority of our businesses were shut down under these circumstances, but since then, New York state has taken a new approach they are calling the Micro Cluster Strategy. The Micro-Cluster Strategy identifies clusters and the areas around them and categorizes them into one or more color-coded zones with corresponding levels of restrictions based on severity: Red Zones, Orange Zones, and Yellow Zones. New rules and restrictions directly target areas to help control COVID-19 spread and protect hospital capacity. This new approach also allows businesses and schools to stay open as long as they are:
Not inside a micro-cluster Red, Orange, or Yellow Zone (business type depending)
Have no positive cases reported on the premises (more about this later)
So while outbreaks in Putnam County as a whole has reached the 3.5% infection rate for over 10 days which put us into the Yellow Zone back in March, because the concentration of infection rates in micro-cluster regions around Putnam County is not as high enough to put any one micro area into an infection zone.
FUN FACT: as of December 15, Philipstown has the lowest rate in Putnam County, and that is something to celebrate and continue working to maintain!
WHO HAS TO SHIP DOWN, WHEN, AND HOW LONG?
In the past few months, several businesses reported incidents of coming in contact with patrons, or having employees who tested positive within a 24 hour period of their interaction on the premises of the business. In response, the businesses had to close for short periods of time and follow safety protocol. An example is last week when grades fifth through senior high at the Haldane and Garrison School Systems were shut down after several cases of covid-19 were reported separately within the schools. The students and staff members who came in direct contact with the individuals who tested positive were required to quarantine for ten days and were monitored for signs and symptoms before they could return to school. These precautions were taken to prevent a spread of infection.
If an employee or patron of your business reports a positive case of covid-19 contact the Putnam County Health Department to get the most up to date instructions on closure, quarantine, and cleaning requirements ((845) 808-1390). Here are some general guidelines on what to expect if…
A PATRON OF YOUR BUSINESS HAD A POSITIVE COVID TEST RESULT AND THEY WERE ON YOUR PREMISIS WITHIN 48 HOURS OF SYMPTOMS OR POSITIVE TEST RESULTS: Close your business for 48 hours. Have all staff and employees get tested and do not return to work until everyone has confirmed negative test results. Do a full cleaning of the premises during that time. If all test results come back negative, you may reopen for business.
AN EMPLOYEE REPORTS A POSITIVE CASE OF A FAMILY MEMBER THEY LIVE WITH, A ROOMMATE, OR A PERSON THEY HAVE BEEN IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH: Have that individual quarantine for 10 days and get tested. If their test results come back negative for covid-19 infection and they show no signs of infection they may return to work after the ten day quarantine period.
AN EMPLOYEE OR STAFF MEMBER OF YOUR BUSINESS REPORTS A POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST RESULT AND WAS ON THE PREMISES WITH OTHERS: Close your business for ten days and have all members who came in contact with the person who reported a positive case to quarantine. Do a deep cleaning of the premises and have all employees get tested. After the ten day quarantine period, if no new positive test results are reported you may reopen.
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE MOVE INTO A MICRO CLUSTER YELLOW, ORANGE, OR RED ZONE?
As before, if our area gets designated a covid-19 hot zone, there will be stages of business shutdowns. New York state will contact the micro cluster region and instruct them to shut down specific business capacities and limit gatherings. Here’s what defines each zone and what to expect in each zone level:
YELLOW ZONE
A geographic area will be eligible to enter a Yellow Zone if it has a 3 percent positivity rate (7-day average) over the past 10 days and is in the top 10 percent in the state for hospital admissions per capita over the past week and is experiencing week-over-week growth in daily admissions. In a Yellow Zone:
Non-Residential Gatherings are limited to 25 people maximum, inside and outside
Residential Gatherings are limited to 10 people maximum, indoors and outdoors
Schools Remain Open with 20% weekly testing of in-person students and faculty
Businesses Remain Open
Houses of Warship Remain Open with a limit to 50% of maximum capacity
Indoor and Outdoor Restaurant Dining Is Permitted, 4 person maximum per table, and bars and restaurants close at 10:00 PM for on-premises consumption
ORANGE ZONE
A geographic area will be eligible to an Orange Zone if it has a 4 percent positivity rate (7-day average) over the last 10 days and it is located in a region that has reached 85 percent hospital capacity. Alternatively, a geographic area may also become an Orange Zone if the State Department of Health determines the region’s rate of hospital admissions is unacceptably high and a zone designation is appropriate to control the rate of growth. In an Orange Zone:
Non-Residential Gatherings are limited to 10 people maximum, indoors and outdoors
Residential Gatherings are limited to 10 people maximum, indoors and outdoors
Schools Are Closed, remote-only
Businesses Remain Open With Limitations: Gyms, fitness centers and classes operate at 25% capacity; barber shops, hair salons, personal care services can provide services so long as employees performing services are tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis.
Houses of Warship Remain Open With Limitations: Less than 33% of maximum capacity or 25 people
Takeout & Outdoor Restaurant Dining Is Permitted, indoor dining is closed, outdoor dining is limited to 4 person maximum per table, and bars and restaurants close at 10:00 PM for on-premises consumption
RED ZONE
A red zone will be implemented when a region, after the cancellation of elective procedures and a 50 percent increase in hospital capacity, is 21 days away from reaching 90 percent hospital capacity on the current 7-day growth rate.
Non-Residential Gatherings Are Prohibited
Residential Gatherings Are Prohibited
Schools Are Closed, remote-only
Non-Essential Businesses Are Closed
Houses of Warship Remain Open With Limitations: Less than 25% of maximum capacity or 10 people
Restaurant May Offer Takeout or Delivery Only
WHEN WILL THIS BE OVER?
The good news is the vaccine is on it’s way. On December 14, history was made when Sandra Lindsay, a frontline ICU nurse and New Yorker, became the first American to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in a non-trial setting. After her vaccination, Governor Cuomo asked Sandra over Zoom how she felt and what she wanted to say to her fellow Americans. Her words speak for themselves:
Dr. Michelle Chester administers the first vaccine to Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse (Photo by Scott Heins for the Office of Governor M. Cuomo)
"I am hopeful. I feel hope today—relieved. I feel like healing is coming and this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We're in a pandemic and so we all need to do our part to put an end to the pandemic, and to not give up so soon. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we still need to continue to wear our masks, to social distance. I believe in science. As a nurse, my practice is guided by science and so I trust that. What I don't trust is that, if I contract COVID, I don't know how it would impact me or those who I come in contact with, so I encourage everyone to take the vaccine."
We advise everyone to get vaccinated for Covid-19 as soon as it is readily available. Drug World and the local medical offices at NY-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in Cold Spring will be working on getting supplies to get vaccines distributed to our area’s residents as soon as they are available.