COVID-19 Guidance from the Village and Town of Ossining: Increased Testing Locations (MESSAGE DATED 12/2/2020)
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We are pleased to share that the Village & Town of Ossining, in partnership with the Westchester County Health Department and Open Door Family Medical Center will be offering increased testing for the coronavirus.
The testing will take place at Open Door Ossining, located at 165 Main Street. Testing will be available as follows:
- Friday, Dec 4th @ 10:00 AM to 4:20 PM
- Saturday, Dec 5th @ 9:30 AM to 1:50 PM
Appointments are necessary. To make an appointment, call 914-995-7425 or go to this web page: Link: https://apps.health.ny.gov/doh2/applinks/cdmspr/2/counties?OpID=11900423
Working together: New York State’s Winter Plan
We are entering a new phase in the war against COVID, and therefore a new strategy is required. We need to ensure that hospitals have enough capacity and enough staff to deal with the fall and winter surge that is upon us. New York State’s Winter Plan to combat the COVID surge is multi-tiered and puts to good use the hard-won lessons we learned from the spring.
- The hospital capacity will be managed to enhance and equalize care.
- NYS will increase and balance testing resources and availability.
- NYS will keep schools open safely.
- NYS will try to prevent viral spread that stems from small gatherings.
- NYS will operationalize an equitable and safe vaccination program. (You can read more about the plan here, but many key aspects of it are included below.)
Here's what else you need to know about the Winter Plan
The State Department of Health is implementing new emergency hospital measures to manage capacity. Hospitals are directed to identify retired medical staff, prepare to add 50 percent bed capacity, and confirm they have the mandatory 90-day stockpile of PPE, among other measures.
The State will refine the criteria for Yellow, Orange and Red Zones. The refinement will take into account important factors including the rate of hospitalizations, available hospital and ICU beds, and hospital staffing, and is part of our larger strategy of protecting hospital capacity. These changes will be implemented after experts evaluate any "post-Thanksgiving effect" in the COVID numbers.
If a hospital system is overwhelmed, New York State can pull an "Emergency Stop." In addition to the three existing micro-cluster zone levels (Yellow, Orange and Red), New York will add a new "Emergency Stop" level, which will effectively put that area under the NY on PAUSE guidelines from the spring. This new level would be used if a hospital system in that area was at serious risk of becoming overwhelmed.
The State will encourage school districts to keep schools open, particularly K-8 schools. Our efforts will be focused on keeping K-8 and Special Education open as long as it can be done safely—using sustainable, ongoing testing. While local school districts are able to close at levels under the State's mandatory closure rule, they are urged to keep K-8 schools open whenever it is safe.
Small gatherings have now been identified as the number one spread of COVID-19. At least 65 percent of all cases come from these settings and sixteen states, including New York, have already limited gatherings to no more than 10 people. While the government's ability to monitor small gatherings is limited, public education on the safety concerns of small gatherings is crucial. Help us spread the word on the danger these gatherings pose.
It will likely be months before a critical mass of vaccinations becomes available. Even though a vaccine is expected to be released in the coming weeks, we're still a while away from having a vaccine that is widely available. As the State operationalizes vaccine distribution, we continue to base our plan on three pillars: Fairness, Equity and Safety.