Update for Monday, October 26, 2020
  • The CDC  has updated its guidance relating to COVID-19 making a significant change to the definition of “close contact.” A copy of this guidance can be found HERE.

  • No longer does one qualify as a “close contact” by being within 6 feet of someone for 15 continuous minutes or more. The CDC now defines “close contact” as: Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (individual exposures added together over a 24-hour period) starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.”

  • Factors to consider in determining whether one is a “close contact” include:
  1. Proximity (closer distance likely increases exposure risk);
  2. The duration of exposure (longer exposure time likely increases exposure risk);
  3. Whether the infected individual has symptoms (the period around onset of symptoms is associated with the highest levels of viral shedding);
  4. If the infected person was likely to generate respiratory aerosols (e.g., was coughing, singing, shouting); and
  5. Other environmental factors (crowding, adequacy of ventilation, whether exposure was indoors or outdoors).
 
  • Under separate CDC guidance found HERE, this determination is made regardless of whether anyone was wearing a mask or other facial covering. The new definition will result in more people meeting the definition of “close contact” and therefore having to quarantine for 14 days after an exposure to someone who tested positive.
 
  • This matters to exposures in your workplace, to employees’ activities outside of work, and to their children who are exposed at school.
 
  • Enforcement of physical distancing rules and measures at work is more important now than ever. Six feet must mean six feet at all times. 
  1. Floors should be marked so that employees understand what six feet looks like.
  2. Shifts should be staggered to allow for greater separation of employees, if needed.
  3. Start- and end-times should be shifted to avoid bunching at time clocks.
  4. Lunch and break rooms should be set up to avoid crowding and allow for distancing.
  5. Bathrooms and elevators should have strict (and low) occupancy limits.

  • The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and private nonprofit organizations in Columbia, Dutchess and Rensselaer counties as a result of drought that began on Aug. 18, 2020. For more information, visit HERE.
To view our website and see previous emails, important documents, and other resources available, click HERE.
If you have any questions regarding the information in this notification or any other business related concerns and suggestions, please email [email protected]. Please do NOT contact elected officials regarding information in this email as they are currently inundated with handling the government response to this crisis. This network was created to help coordinate responses and share the burden, and we ask that you please contact us with any questions or concerns so our elected officials can focus on their task at hand. Thank you for your continued support through this time.
Resources With Links
United States Small Business Administration
Federal Representatives
Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney: (845) 561-1259
Congressman Antonio Delgado: (845) 443-2930
Centers For Disease Control

Novel Coronavirus Hotline (24/7): 1-888-364-3065
New York State Government


NY Forward Reopening Information: https://forward.ny.gov/
State Representatives
Senator Pete Harckham: (914) 241-4600
Senator Sue Serino: (845) 229-0106
Assembly Member Didi Barrett: (845) 454-1703
Assembly Member Kevin Cahill: (845) 338-9610
Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobson: (845) 562-0888
Assembly Member Kieran Lalor: (845) 221-2202
New York State Department of Labor
Dutchess County Government


Dutchess County Mental Health Hotline (24/7): (877) 485-9700
Dutchess Tourism
For updates on major attractions, lodging, and restaurants (including a list of restaurants and farms open for takeout, curbside & delivery) click here, for important information and updates (including a resource guide for County tourism-related businesses) click here.
Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce
Business News Portal: https://www.dcrcoc.org/news
Think Dutchess Alliance For Business
Dutchess County Workforce Investment Board
Dutchess Business Notification Network
If you were forwarded this email but would like to be added to the email list, please let us know by clicking HERE.
Dutchess Business Notification Network | [email protected]