Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro says he supports a regional, incremental restart of the economy in New York state. Meantime, the county continues its focus on COVID-19 testing as it stares down hefty revenue losses from the statewide closure of non-essential businesses. Molinaro spoke with WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne.
State and local governments have been clamoring for more federal aid. The U.S. Senate this week passed a COVID-19 3.5 supplemental package. (Molinaro talks about needs for counties.)
Molinaro, whose father died earlier this month from COVID-19, has been pushing for a drive-through testing site in Poughkeepsie, and recently responded to a Rite-Aid tweet about the drug store chain announcing it was expanding such testing in various states. He’s been working with Mayor Rob Rolison on a drive-up site.
In March, Nuvance Health opened a testing site at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill.