OSWEGO COUNTY – The Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce, along with representatives from local governments, held a video conference meeting today, April 30, to update the participating public in how the county and cities of Fulton and Oswego are handling COVID-19.
Katie Toomey, executive director of the GOFCC, invited Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup, Fulton Mayor Deana Michaels and Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow to give updates and recaps.
“We’re having a decline in the frequency of the new [COVID-19] cases,” Weatherup said. “This is due to outstanding collaboration between our county health department, Oswego Health, our other community emergency service providers, and also the hospital in Syracuse.”
Weatherup said the county does have much to do in order to reopen the region along with the continued practice of social distancing and other guidelines. He also said he hopes the county, given its low numbers of positive cases, will be able to reopen quickly.
Barlow recapped a few things that have been done in the City of Oswego:
- Free childcare in collaboration with the YMCA and Little Lukes with a priority for first responders, city workers and those who work in the medical field. This will be extended to May 15.
- The city made $275,000 in loans available to small businesses within the city limits. Each small business accepted was able to get a $10,000 loan to help bridge the gap from the time they had to shut down to when they can reopen.
- The city government has aimed to give the public information often with periodic press conferences.
- A Stop the Spread stay at home order is still in effect.
- Oswego Police and Fire departments have been offering educational materials outside retail stores such as Walmart and Lowes.
“Although Oswego County is in good shape in terms of data and numbers, it is a regional approach and we have to A: be good partners and B: focus and continue to stay at home and continue to stop the spread and keep flattening our curve until May 15,” Barlow said. “What we don’t want to do is let our guard down now.”
Michaels also gave an update as to some of what the City of Fulton has been doing:
- The police department has informational flyers to give to people if they noticed a need for it.
- The Codes Department has reached out to businesses to educate them on state mandates.
- Various city departments have reached out to the city’s senior citizens and small businesses to check on them and give resources if needed.
- A COVID-19 Small Business Advisory Board has been formed to begin the discussion of how the city’s small businesses can move forward. A COVID-19 response team was also formed and meets often.
- The city, in partnership with the Salvation Army and Eagle Beverage, gave 900 gallons of milk and 500 face masks away yesterday.
- The city partnered with Golden Sun Bus to help senior citizens get to the grocery store.
“For us, it’s a lot of good communication, creating hotlines, making sure that we’re summating as much information as we can as often we can,” Michaels said. “And at this point I really don’t think that there’s ever such a thing as too much information and we need to get that out there as much as possible and give the opportunity to the community to have a voice and share both their concerns and their appreciation and anywhere in between.”
Resources:
- Operation Oswego County COVID-19 Emergency Relief Program
- City of Oswego Emergency Assistance Website
- City of Oswego Mental Health Crisis Hotline: 315-343-5507
- City of Fulton COVID-19 Updates
- Oswego County COVID-19 Hotline: 315-349-3330
- Oswego County Health Department
