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TOWN OF CAPE VINCENT, New York (WWNY) – When it comes to distributing free KN95 masks from the state, each county in the area is handling it differently.

Last week, Governor Kathy Hochul announced every county in the state will receive the masks to give out to residents to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Jefferson County is leaving it up to towns to distribute the masks.

For example, the town of Cape Vincent received about 1,500 masks last Thursday. Because of the limited supply, the town is giving out one mask per person.

Residents of Cape Vincent can go to the town clerk’s office or a few other locations to pick theirs up.

“We’ve got the word out that they are available. We’ve given some to the village clerk and they’re here, and at the highway garage. So, residents just need to come in and pick them up from us. If it’s just the two people, we give two. If it’s four, we give four. It’s one per person,” said Michelle Bouchard, town clerk.

7 News tried reaching out to every town in Jefferson County to find out how and where they’re distributing masks. Here’s what we learned:

Town of Adams: the clerk’s office says it has no word yet on a distribution plan.
Town of Alexandria: masks are being given out.
Town of Antwerp: no information available.
Town of Brownville: masks are being given out at the town office during regular business hours.
Town of Cape Vincent: distributing at the town and village clerk’s offices. One mask per person.
Town of Champion: hasn’t received any masks yet.
Town of Clayton: received 1,500 masks which will be distributed to the Depauville Library, Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service (TIERS), and the town office. Check the town of Clayton’s website for more information.
Town of Ellisburg: 2,000 masks are being given out Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Town of Henderson: no information available.
Town of Hounsfield: hasn’t received any masks yet.
Town of LeRay: got an email about the masks, but it didn’t say how many or when the town would get them.
Town of Lorraine: no information available.
Town of Lyme: received 4 boxes of masks. There is a board meeting Tuesday to discuss distribution.
Town of Orleans: masks are being distributed at the town library on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Masks will be available beginning Tuesday. For more information, call 315-658-2271.
Town of Pamelia: distributing 2,000 masks at the town office.
Town of Philadelphia: hasn’t received any masks yet.
Town of Rodman: no information available.
Town of Rutland: no information available.
Town of Theresa: 1,500 masks were given to the Theresa Food Pantry, the library, and the fire department for distribution.
Town of Watertown: received masks. No other information available.
Town of Wilna: distributing 500 masks at the town office.
Town of Worth: no information available.
City of Watertown: received 6,000 masks last week and is working on setting up a few different points of distribution.

St. Lawrence County received 48,000 masks and 15,000 of them were distributed to fire and emergency management service agencies depending on their call volume.

The remainder of the masks went to all towns; the number given out was based on population.

The demand for masks has led the county to put in a request to the state to deliver another 48,000 masks.

“By the end of last week we had almost all of the masks distributed out. We’ve had mask shipments come in in the past and we’re able to get them out, but this time around the KN95s there has been a higher demand,” said < Matthew Denner, St. Lawrence County Emergency Services director.

So far, the county has not heard back from the state about another shipment of masks.

Lewis County got 7,500 masks; 2,000 went to businesses, and 1,500 went to the hospital for patients who come in for a COVID test or emergency room patients who are symptomatic.

Another 500 were given to county buildings.

The county is trying to decide how to distribute the remaining 3000. Officials requested more masks and testing kits from the state. If they get them, they will host a distribution event at some town fire halls where everyone will get one KN95 mask and one home testing kit.