Coronavirus: 3 Town Of Huntington Employees Test Positive

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON, NY — Three Town of Huntington employees have tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials announced Wednesday afternoon. They are the first three confirmed COVID-19 cases among Town employees.

Town Hall will be closed to employees Thursday and Friday for cleaning, and officials are planning for remote Town Board and Planning Board meetings next week. The Senior Center call center hours are changing, as well.

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The Town of Huntington Department of Assessor, at Town Hall, has been closed to employees since Tuesday, after an employee, who had been self-isolating since leaving work March 16 due to suspected exposure to a third party with COVID-19, called in to report testing positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. Any employees reporting to work were sent home that day, and the entire Assessor's office was thoroughly cleaned and disinfected by a professional cleaning service.

The Town of Huntington Department of Engineering Services, including the Division of Building & Housing, also inside the Town Hall, has been closed to employees since Tuesday after an employee, who was self-isolating since leaving work March 16, called in to report testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. A second employee, who had been self-isolating since leaving work March 18 due to known exposure to a third party with COVID-19, called in to report suspected symptoms on Tuesday. Employees were sent home Tuesday, and the office of the Department of Engineering Services was also thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

"Although health care officials from Suffolk County and Huntington Hospital have advised us that closing those departments to employees was not warranted, as a precaution and for everyone’s peace of mind, employees will not be returning to the Departments of Assessor or Engineering Services until further notice," Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci said in a news release. "While the affected departments have been professionally cleaned and disinfected, and Town Hall has been closed to the public since March 16, as an additional precaution, Town Hall will close to employees Thursday and Friday of this week for a continued thorough cleaning and disinfecting of the entire Town Hall facility."

As of late Wednesday morning, there have been 358 confirmed COVID-19 cases within the Town of Huntington.

Public safety issues may be reported to Public Safety’s 24/7 Emergency Hotline at 631-351-3234. Road issues may also be reported to Highway at 631-499-0444.

The hours people can call the Town of Huntington Senior Center have changed as well, to 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., due to limited staffing. The senior center has been closed to the public since March 13.

The Town is working on a video conferencing solution to hold both the March 31 Town Board meeting and the April 1 Planning Board meeting remotely. All public hearings for both the Town Board and Planning Board meetings will be postponed.

The remote meeting solution is being tested, and if it is determined to be a feasible solution, live-streaming will not be possible, as the Town’s only capability for live-streaming is built into the Town Board Room equipment. The meetings will be recorded, produced and video will be posted online and on government access TV channels Optimum 18 and FIOS 38 after the meeting. Video production time has yet to be determined.

Click here for the latest on the Town of Huntington's coronavirus response.

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