Kings County Sups approve state of emergency, necessary step to qualify for state, federal resources

Kings County’s officials and supervisors’ vote is also a way to more effectively manage the community’s preparedness and response efforts to the coronavirus pandemic.

Supervisors also ratified the Kings County Health Officer’s local health emergency declaration today (March 17). They were told that there are currently no reported cases of COVID-19 infection within the county. However, the board decided that declaring a local emergency at this time would allow for an increase in the county’s response efforts to provide enhanced community information, preparedness, and continued testing. 

The board’s actions are another step in Kings County’s preparation and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The declarations are also a necessary step in qualifying the county for any State and federal resources, including reimbursement for County COVID-19 related expenses, which may be made available. 

Specifically, the board took a preparatory action today, which was done not to create any additional alarm, but to prepare and better position the county to manage current and future efforts regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this step affords county officials some ability to act more quickly to respond to arising issues without the need for time-consuming procedures and formalities. 

County officials say they will continue to provide the community with updated information as it becomes available. The County Department of Public Health is continually providing the most recent information on its webpage, which can be found at http://www.kingscovidinfo.com.

As always, the county encourages residents to follow best practices in protecting themselves doing this time, which includes:

• Washing hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
• Avoiding touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Covering your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. 
• Staying away from work, school, or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough.