Saratoga TODAY December 18-24, 2020

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LOCAL • INDEPENDENT • FREE Volume 14 •

Issue 51 • December 18 – December 24, 2020

How to Maneuver the COVID-Slide

Photo courtesy of Cheryl’s Lodge Outreach Center. See Story pg. 14

Plans Approved for Nursing Home Closure; Residents to Be Relocated

The Saratoga Center for Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Care Photo provided. See Story pg. 10

saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com • 518- 581-2480 •

Contact Tracing On The Way by Thomas Dimopoulos Saratoga TODAY BALLSTON SPA — In March, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors authorized $1 million to be directed to battling the spread of COVID-19. There were 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Saratoga County at the time. In May, the Board authorized Saratoga County Administrator Spencer Hellwig to hire as many as 50 Contact Tracers at the rate of $25 per hour – the costs to be paid from the appropriated $1 million fund. Seven months later, with the number of cases nearing a total of 4,000 in Saratoga County, $800,000 of that $1 million has

remained unused, and only 23 Contact Tracers employed. “We authorized 50 Contact Tracers. In November it came to my understanding that we only had 23 Contact Tracers,” says Tara Gaston, one of two city supervisors who represent Saratoga Springs at the county level. “Whether anyone in leadership knew about it, I don’t know, but that’s when I learned we had only hired 23. Before that, it hadn’t been discussed. And it was about this same time that we determined that New York State which had promised us to be able to use their Contact Tracers – was going to limit our access. So, it became an even larger concern,” she says. See Story pg. 10

FOOD PANTRIES How to Give, How to Get

Photo courtesy of Franklin Community Center. See pg. 8


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Saratoga TODAY December 18-24, 2020 by Saratoga TODAY - Issuu