COVID-19 Updates
COVID-19 Alerts, Updates and Resources...
On behalf of County Executive Steve Neuhaus,
I’m reaching out to you, our municipal partners. The Orange County Department of Health is working with the State Department of Health to train municipal employees to be ready to assist with Contact Tracing efforts in response to COVID-19.
One of the seven metrics used in determining regional opening is the number of trained and available Contact Tracers. Orange County was informed by the State yesterday that we need 330 trained, available and ready to conduct Contact Tracing. The guidance is 30 Contact Tracers per 100,000 residents. However, the State has assigned Orange County almost three times that amount of Contact Tracers based on the population of region for which we are included.
To meet the State’s goal, we need more Contact Tracers. Please ask your employees or other volunteers to assist. The role of a Contact Tracer will involve calling people throughout the County who may have contacted a COVID-19 positive individual and collecting and entering data with respect to their whereabouts and individuals they have encountered.
To be a Contact Tracer, New York State requires the completion of an online training and certification program that requires a quick online exam. According to the State it takes 5 hours to complete the training online, however individuals in the County have completed it in roughly an hour.
Volunteers will need to take a free course from John Hopkins University (link is here). When filling out the online application, it initially shows a fee of $49; however, a discount is applied upon checkout making it no cost.
Departments should send a list of individuals who will be signing up to be Contact Tracers to Deputy Commissioner of Health Mike Ventre at mventre@orangecountygov.com. A copy of their Certificate from John Hopkins will be required once completed by this Friday and should also be sent to Deputy Commissioner Ventre.
For further information about being a Contact Tracer, please visit the State Website at: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/get-involved-how-you-can-help?fbclid=IwAR2KB-M0sOF_oHusz5q90ncJKRjLSewpQ3XE_RU2aCPNo9A2oUnQy-KLmqs
March 18, 2020:
Small businesses can apply for Federal Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance by clicking on the link above or by calling 845-802-9150