Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan declared July 12-19 “Get Tested Week.” The initiative aims to encourage county residents to get tested for COVID-19. “Anyone and everyone is eligible and encouraged to get tested,” said Ryan.
“As we see cases continue to rise, it is critical that we remain vigilant and encourage all residents to get tested,” County Executive Ryan said. “Getting testing is safe, easy, and free. ‘Get Tested Week’ serves as a call-to-action for Ulster County residents to not wait to get tested, but to visit one of the many locations around the county now.”
Ryan said during his Facebook Live update today that around 500-1000 tests are now being done daily, but the county has the capacity for more. He said it was “critical” to continue to increase testing as more residents return to work because widespread testing can help identify clusters of cases before they spread.
Residents can find information about their nearest testing location and both walk-in testing sites and mobile testing sites by visiting ulstercountyny.gov/get-tested.
There are currently 137 active cases of COVID-19 and 87 fatalities in Ulster County.
For additional information about COVID-19 visit: https://ulstercountyny.gov/
Ulster County COVID-19 Hotline: 845-443-8888
I’m not trying to troll but what is the value in getting tested if you match these 3 criteria?
A. You’ve had limited exposure to others
B. Will continue to have limited exposure
C. Have no symptoms
(limited exposure means maybe going inside a grocery store and taking socially distanced walks outside, all while masked)
If there is very little chance of having or spreading, why take up the resources of getting tested? Thanks!
Matching those 3 criteria doesn’t mean your chance of testing positive is 0%. It just means it is lower than those who don’t match them. The “value in getting tested” is…finding out if you have the virus? Feels fairly valuable. These resources exist for a reason, to be used in the interest of public safety.
You make a good point, Chris. We each should use our own judgement on this. One thing is that it would help the county track where Covid-19 is spreading and where it is not. They are looking for clusters and where it might be spreading easily and also where it is not spreading. Also, I am sure you already know this, but those infected with the virus can go symptom free for weeks, and in some cases folks can have it and never get symptoms. And yet it appears we can spread it in the meantime.
What a crazy virus.
Is everyone coming to HITS being tested prior to shopping, eating and drinking in Saugerties?
Good point Virginia, test everyone that resides in the county but not the way out of the area HITS visitors who spend several days at a time for a HITS event in the village and DO NOT follow the proper recommendations.
They leave and possibly leave Corona-19 behind. Than all those exposed that had been tested needs to be tested again. And so the cycle continues.
If an event can not contain the attendees from out of the area/state internally and than travel back to their location directly it should not be allowed. We are talking local workers trying to do their job and put at risk for the elite to have their entertainment.
What about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) We can not transport firewood or logs further than 50 miles as they might be infected with EAB with the possibility of facing charges. But we can transport ourselves and broadcast a killer disease. With impunity.
More worry for the trees than essential workers?
Things are getting worse and we are getting complacent with the sick and death count. We all should take a step back and realize the we still need to keep events that require long distant traveling at bay for the time being.
I had no idea that HITS was some kind of conglomerate with locations also in Florida, Virginia, and Illinois. I’ve read the Saugerties HITS Covid 19 protocol. The general public isn’t allowed in, but how many attendees and vendors are there? Does the New York State Health Department know of the events?
No need to write inflammatory comments, but it does seem the general public is at risk, given that attendees and vendors are not required to travel point A to point B and return home.
I left out California, and Arizona… “HITS, Inc. is a special events management company primarily focused on producing hunter/jumper horse shows. Based in upstate New York in the village of Saugerties, HITS produced its first horse show circuit in Gainesville, Florida in 1982. Since then, HITS has grown into a nationwide company with world-class hunter/jumper circuits in California, Florida, Arizona, New York, Virginia, and Illinois.
HITS produces three of the richest grand prix in the world with the AIG $1 Million Grand Prix in Thermal, California, Great American $1 Million Grand Prix in Ocala, Florida and Saugerties $500,000 Grand Prix CSI5* in Saugerties, New York. The HITS Championship, held each September at HITS-on-the-Hudson, hosts the HITS $250,000 Jr/A-O/Am Jumper Prix, the Stal Hendrix Pre-Green Futurity, and the crown jewels of the hunter discipline: the Diamond Mills Hunter Prix Final and the Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Final.
In 2011, HITS, Inc. expanded its event management repertoire into endurance sports and HITS Endurance was born. Under the HITS Endurance umbrella, both HITS Triathlon Series and HITS Running Festivals present top-notch triathlon and running races throughout the United States. ”
Gag.
I want to know about the massive amount of OUT OF STATE PLATES? And I’m not talking about HITS people. Who is enforcing quarantine of these people. We are having new spikes as we go into phase 4, and we are all being urged to test. I can go test negative Monday morning and then Tuesday come into contact by an out of Towner who is walking around WITHOUT A MASK!?!
I don’t share your fear of out oft owners, but I do agree with your point about folks not wearing masks. It’s an outrage, but I can tell that asking a covidiot to put on a mask is exactly what they are hoping for so they can vent their rage in the name of liberty. I am not sure what is riskier, confronting a covidiot or breathing their passing-by air.
But you cannot really tell an out-for-towner by their license plates. Nor would New York plates mean someone is local. Let’s not fall into that trap.
HITS is a legitimate concern, for sure. On the one hand they bring money into our local economy, and on the other they may be spreading the virus in their travels. Perhaps it would be best if they did what other sports are trying to do, which is travel in quarantine, meaning stay on the event grounds for the duration of the event. As we know, though, big money gets to play by a different set of rules.