KINGSTON – Ulster County Executive Patrick Ryan has signed an executive order requiring all county employees, regardless of vaccination status, to wear a mask when entering county-owned buildings and facilities.
County Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith also issued updated guidance that strongly recommends all members of the public to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
That should help curb the spread of the virus, said Ryan.
“This is a key step to make sure that we can slow and ultimately stop the spread of the Delta variant while we buy ourselves time to up our vaccines percentage and hopefully prevent any additional variants that could be even more dangerous and more contagious and/or more resistant to the vaccine,” he said.
Ryan also said for the safety of residents and county staff, they are now requiring that everyone wear masks inside all county buildings. “As the science has consistently shown, masks help stop the spread of COVID19 and ultimately safe lives,” Ryan said.
Due to the rapid spread of the Delta variant, the county Tuesday reported 576 cases of COVID-19. Last week, the county announced it will reactivate the former Best Buy space in the Hudson Valley Mall as a point of distribution for booster shots.
To date, 274 people have died from the deadly virus in Ulster County including one individual who died this week.
