Broome County Executive reflects on COVID-19 five years later
One week, later, everything was in lockdown.
During the first months of the shutdown, many Broome County residents turned to County Executive Jason Garnar for daily updates online. Today, he reflects back on those early days.
For Jason Garnar, he had been briefed about COVID-19 in the months leading up to March, but had no idea how quickly things would change. It didn't even warrant a mention in his State of the County address in mid-February of 2020.
'It went from me not mentioning it at all in my county address and three weeks later, just about everything is shut down,' said Garnar.
Once the lockdown mandates came from the state, it was all systems go with his executive team working closely with the county health department and the Office of Emergency Services on the response. An early challenge was a lack of tests.
'I remember there was a road patrol deputy that would drive up to Albany if we could find 50 tests. We'd send him up to Albany and he would grab the tests and bring them back,' said Garnar.
The overriding concern was over hospital capacity, with fears that medical institutions would become overwhelmed with patients. As then Governor Andrew Cuomo would hold daily online briefings each morning, Garnar and his staff would digest the information, try to determine how the new edicts would be implemented and then hold a briefing of his own to disseminate the important information. Garnar says it was vital to get accurate info out
'There was one rumor that black helicopters were coming and landing on the top of hospitals and taking all of the ventilators. And certainly, that wasn't happening. So, part of it was to kind of dispel some of those rumors that did understandably scare people. Get the factual information out to people,' said Garnar.
Garnar's briefings informed residents about what was and wasn't allowed, where to get personal protective equipment or PPE, where to get free food, where to get testing and eventually where to get vaccinated. He also gave guidance to businesses and non-profits on how to safely reopen. The County Exec would start his briefing with data, the number of cases reported and sadly, the number of deaths in the county.
'I often took very personal responsibility for it because I felt like I was the person who was supposed to be managing this epidemic. So, when somebody would die and we would get a report of the death, it was a hard thing to take. It was not an easy thing to take,' said Garnar.
Garnar says there was a lot of suffering: nursing home residents who couldn't see loved ones, students who fell behind on their school work and socialization and disabled kids who missed out on services. Garnar says his role was often that of messenger. He says many other folks behind the scenes helped to organize and coordinate the response.
'The other thing that I would say that we saw is county employees stepping up and doing things that they'd never done before. One of the big things they had to do is contact tracing,' said Garnar.
Garnar says the daily briefings definitely increased his public profile and made him much more recognizable in the community. And he says the pandemic also educated people about the important work that the county does.
Garnar says the county learned a lot from the experience. He believes we're better prepared to respond should there be another pandemic.
Watch the full interview below.
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