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Postponements, cancellations, ‘Coach of the year’ and more » pg. 12 Published By Denton Publications Inc.

Adirondack Journal / News Enterprise

March 21, 2020

suncommunitynews.com

• EDITION •

The coronavirus tightens its grip on the North Country Local schools closed until at least April 19 By Thom Randall CORRESPONDENT

WARREN COUNTY | A five-word phrase echoed this week throughout the North Country, immediately and dramatically changing the lives of all area residents. “In an abundance of caution,” the announcements were declared again and again — in announcing the closure, postponement or cancellation of so many aspects of public life, due to the effort to curb the novel coronaviris known as COVID-19. The first of the many announcements occurred on March 12, prohibiting public attendance at sports tournaments, cancellation of concerts and mass gatherings. This was followed soon

“In an abundance of caution” On the morning of March 13, Crista Taylor of Johnsburg gestures at Queensbury WalMart‘s shelves, emptied of all their stock of toilet paper, facial tissues, napkins and paper towels. Courtesy photo the disruption of k-12 school attendance was a major concern of his — how to assure the welfare of area children and their families — with the conflicting concerns of providing care for these youngsters while maintaining social distancing to assure that COVID-19 does not spread through the population. “How child-care can be provided under these circumstances is a huge question,” he said. “We want to take precautions, but our town governments are also the entities that help those in need and ensure the well-being of our citizens.” Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an order banning public gatherings of over 500 people. The prohibition also mandated that events hosting fewer than 500 attendees would have to reduce their capacity by 50 percent. This dictate triggered a cascade of event cancellations. Simultaneously, colleges across New York State canceled on-site classes, causing thousands of students to empty their dorm rooms and head back to their hometowns. Many of those colleges said that students were to take their courses online.

County continues to release residents from quarantine

after by the visitation restrictions imposed by nursing homes, schools, jails, and hospitals — and the closure of closure of libraries, museums, churches and other public venues. The “abundance of caution” phrase was heard again later that day and on March 13, as major national sports tournaments were canceled. The most consequential local declaration, however, was made Saturday — the immediate shutdown, through April 19, of all 31 school districts of the Washington-Saratoga-WarrenHamilton-Essex BOCES. This covers all elementary, middle and high schools in these districts within the The Sun/Adirondack Journal’s primary readership area: Warrensburg, North Warren, Johnsburg, Lake George, Bolton, Indian Lake, Minerva, Newcomb, Hadley-Luzerne, Corinth, Glens Falls and Queensbury.

CHILD CARE DEEMED A CRITICAL PROBLEM

The move meant that over 30,000 children are to be at home

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Also, physicians, medical officials and health care representatives urged people to practice “social distancing” which meant staying home if at all possible, in order to protect their health. These instructions prompted people to isolate themselves and their families at home, limiting contact with others as much as they could. This widespread self-isolation prompted thousands of people to cram area grocery markets and “big box” stores — and they filled their shopping carts with supplies they felt they needed in order to survive staying at home for weeks. Frustrated shoppers visited dozens of stores without finding vital supplies. Shannon Fonda of Johnsburg was among those seeking toilet paper and other essentials, with no success. “We’ll just go into ‘camping mode,” she said after her lengthy search. This nationwide phenomenon of panic shopping prompted President Trump to advise the public Sunday not to hoard such goods. “You don’t have to buy so much — take it easy, just relax,” he said. “Were doing great, it all will pass.” Fonda offered a similar thought. “People just need to hunker down and do what they do in the North Country when the power goes out for a week or two,” she said. “People are getting knocked out of their comfort zone — but no one needs to freak out — in a while this will be over, and they will survive.” ■

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All these North Country schools canceled or postponed all school-related activities — and students and their parents were advised to refer to their school website for information about online instruction as well as how to retrieve items students had left in school buildings. Town of Chester Supervisor Craig Leggett said March 14 that

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for the next five weeks — and with many single parent households, or those headed up by working adults — providing child care is likely to be a pressing problem. Within 20 hours, the Champlain Valley Educational Services BOCES followed suit by likewise suspending classes for their 16 school districts across Essex, Clinton and Franklin counties, which encompasses an area host to several other editions of The Sun. Virtually all the schools said in their declarations that not one of their students had tested positive for COVID-19.

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CVS Pharmacy on Main Street in Queensbury and subsequently tested positive — have not shown any symptoms, and most of these individuals were now off quarantine. Moore announced on Saturday that the county had no plans at that point to declare a state of emergency, as Saratoga and some other Capital Region counties have done. “Our public health experts and emergency services experts and I are all on the same page about this,” he said, noting that if the situation changes, they would consult with county Board of Supervisors chairman Frank Thomas about whether such a declaration should be made. ■

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WARREN COUNTY | Not a single Warren County resident has a confirmed case of the COVID19 virus as of March 15, county Administrator Ryan Moore announced at 7:40 p.m. Sunday. The county, however, had 27 of its citizens quarantined on that date — 21 of them mandatory and six precautionary. Mandatory quarantines are conducted when a person has been within six feet of someone who has had contact with a person who has tested positive for the COVID-19

virus, or has been within six feet of a person confirmed to host the illness. The precautionary quarantines are declared when an individual’s travel may have placed them at risk. These latter six individuals in quarantine have no symptoms, he said. Eight of those under mandatory quarantines are healthy and were due to have their quarantine orders lifted as of March 16, Moore said. The county has been continuing its practice of regularly checking in with all people that are quarantined, he added. Moore has noted that a number of people — who consulted about two weeks ago with a pharmacist who had been working at the

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