LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) – It’s masks off in all Lewis County-owned buildings, but the head of the hospital in Lowville says it’s just not the right time.
Lewis County Health System CEO Jerry Cayer says COVID-19 transmission is still high in the county and he believes preaching mask-wearing and vaccinations should be the message.
Cayer says the pandemic is still affecting hospital service in a big way. In January, the hospital was on diversion 16 out of 31 days due to staffing shortages.
“We were on diversion because every single day we were dealing with a high level of staff who were in isolation because they had become COVID positive,” said Cayer.
He says it’s a big reason the county shouldn’t relax it’s COVID-19 protocols
Since Tuesday, masks are no longer required to enter county-owned buildings. It’s a decision Cayer says is premature.
“If we all work together, we create this large umbrella of protection and we can truly get to the downside of COVID transmission,” he said.
County Manager Ryan Piche spoke with 7 News when the decision came out.
“Eventually, we are going to have to start peeling back some of these restrictions and get life back to normal. It needs to be done slowly, it needs to be done in an intelligent way, but we do need to start making some of those decisions,” he said.
On Thursday, Piche said that stance hasn’t changed.
But Cayer says says the county’s current positivity rate is at the same level it was when the delta variant was the dominant strain.
“We are still having transmission at fairly high rates, so by unmasking, we continue to perpetuate additional transmission, meaning it will be here longer,” he said.
Cayer says if you couple relaxed COVID rules with the county’s low vaccination rate, it could create even more of an opportunity for spread and even new variants to form.
The hospital is technically a county-owned facility, but masks do have to be worn there because of the state mandate requiring masks at all health care facilities.
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