Herkimer County Chairman Jim Bono: people "have to sacrifice and go get tested” to help COVID reopening process By Luke Perry
Herkimer County is preparing to reopen businesses tomorrow under phase one of NY Forward guidelines for the coronavirus pandemic. The Mohawk Valley was one of four upstate regions eligible to reopen.
Vincent “Jim” Bono, Chairman of the Herkimer County legislature, said “manufacturing and the construction end of it is sort of going on now, then throw in curbside retail.” Bono believes significant progress can be made after the region moves through phase one into the other three phases.
There are seven metrics guiding the reopening process. “If we achieve and maintain those numbers for a two week period we’ll move into phase two,” Bono explained, “and the same thing with phase two. You go another two weeks, meet those numbers, you go on to phase three.”
Bono emphasized the importance of residents getting tested. “In order to help the region grow,” Bono told Keeler in the Morning (WIBX in Utica), “we’re all going to have to sacrifice and go get tested.”
Building sufficient testing capacity has been a challenge for upstate regions compared to downstate. Continually demonstrating this capacity is necessary to advance to other phases.
Photo from WKTV (February 2020)
Last weekend, Bono participated in a regional call with Governor Cuomo where the Mohawk Valley pushed for the ability to increase outpatient medical care and elective surgeries. “We feel that in our region that’s vital,” Bono said.
Herkimer County is home to 62,000 people over 1,500 square miles. The county has experienced a range of 17 to 20 cases in recent weeks. “We’re going to get through this,” Bono said.
The desire for people to get out creates challenges. Bono said Old Forge has “never been this busy” this time of year.
The county hopes that tourist attractions will be able to open prior to the July 4th weekend. Bono said the economic impact could be tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College
