Mayor Barlow Takes Stand Against COVID-19 Non-Compliance

by Shea O'Malley | November 17, 2020 10:14 am

OSWEGO – Mayor Billy Barlow held a COVID-19 update at the Eastside Fire Department last night, Nov. 16.

With COVID numbers increasing in Oswego County, Barlow and area officials are positioning themselves for what may possibly come, while urging area residents to follow recommended health and safety precautionary measures.

Barlow took the opportunity to speak to residents after seeing disturbing commentary on his official government Facebook page. The mayor chose to post a set of updated guidelines from Gov. Andrew Cuomo as a reminder for residents.

The comment section quickly became loaded with dialogue questioning the validity of mandates as a whole, including the justified risks of non-compliance.

“I just want to highlight some of the responses, because a few of them were really frightening for me as mayor and both as a person, quite frankly,” Barlow said. “One comment was quote, ‘You’re out of your mind – we are not animals,’ end quote. Another quote was, ‘I will have as many people at my house as I see fit,’ end of quote… The comments really shook me, and I can’t believe we’re this far into the pandemic and this is the attitude of some people. But, nevertheless, it opened my eyes. Not only is the data moving in the wrong direction, but I think attitudes are changing, and I think it’s COVID pandemic fatigue, and I think people are over the pandemic in general. And that’s leading to some reckless behavior, some negligent behavior and some carelessness right here in our community.”

Included with Barlow’s talk was a presentation highlighting the number of COVID-19 cases the Oswego County Health Department and New York State of Health have followed over the course of this year.

The mayor broke down the figures while expressing concern over the increasing numbers, and what it will mean for the city/county if residents don’t comply with existing rules.

Earlier in the day, Oswego County Public Health Director Jiancheng Huang warned residents in his daily COVID-19 report of the danger surrounding group celebrations, pointing to Halloween gatherings as a main contributor in the uptick of COVID cases.

“Community transmission will continue if we do not change our behaviors,” Huang said. “We should learn this lesson from the drastic increase in cases and clusters from the Halloween parties as we plan our celebrations for the coming holidays.”

Barlow stressed the subsequent actions that will most likely follow in the county and state if residents choose to willfully disregard the safety and health of their communities, underscoring the need for compliance.

“Basic guidelines, it’s common sense – we should know this by now,” Barlow said adding, “The fact is, you do know this by now. Everybody knows the rules, everybody knows the proactive and protective measures, [and] everybody knows the appropriate protocols. It’s just a matter of if you want to follow them or not. And you need to follow them.”

A video of the update can also be found on here[1].

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/mayor-barlow-takes-stand-against-covid-19-non-compliance/

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