Coronavirus: Rockland Lawmakers Restructure Meetings

NEW CITY, NY — Rockland County lawmakers have canceled committee meetings and restructured their full board meetings to protect the health of both the public and county employees. The number of confirmed cases of new coronavirus in the county rose to seven by Thursday afternoon.

“This is the safe and prudent action to take and is in keeping with the advice of health professionals,” Legislature Chairman Alden H. Wolfe said. “Cancelling these committee meetings and consolidating what we can into Committee of the Whole sessions will reduce the number of person-to-person interactions while still allowing us to carry out our county government obligations.”

The chairs of each committee are being asked to review their agendas and determine which items should be placed on the full legislative agenda for March 18.

Legislators will convene then and resolve into a Committee of the Whole, allowing legislators to ask and answer questions, and to interact with others present to obtain information they made need regarding an agenda item.

The Legislature will follow the same procedure for its next full meeting on April 7.

The Legislature’s Women’s History Month and Irish-American Heritage Month celebrations, set to be held prior to the start of the March 18 meeting, have been canceled and will be rescheduled later.

Full board meetings are necessary to ensure the continuity of county government, Wolfe said. The resolutions that come before the Legislature require approval so everything from service contracts, purchase approvals, certain personnel changes, bonding actions and more can move forward.

“What we do must, by law, be open and in front of the public and we would have it no other way,” he said.

The Legislature will continue to monitor the impacts of the COVID-19 virus, as well as the advice of the Rockland County and New York State Health Departments and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and adjust meeting schedules as needed, Wolfe said.

Here are the latest numbers for infections in New York:

• Westchester: 148
• NYC: 95
• Nassau: 41
• Suffolk: 20
• Rockland: 7
• Ulster: 4
• Albany: 2
• Orange: 1
• Broome: 1
• Delaware: 1
• Dutchess: 1
• Herkimer: 1
• Monroe: 2

More information about the coronavirus is available on the Rockland County Health Department’s website.

The public can get answers to general questions about the virus by calling the state hotline at 1-888-364-3065 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily to speak with a New York State Health Department expert. After hours, please leave a voicemail message that will be returned.

SEE ALSO:

• Rockland St. Patrick's Day Parade Canceled
• New York Coronavirus: Suffern Death Probed

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