I just lost my contact tracing job because the Allegany County Department of Health filed a complaint against me for my Letter to the Editor in this publication.
I admit to using poor judgment in referring to my role as a contact tracer to bolster my credibility in my letter but I stand by everything else I said.
I wrote that letter as a resident of this County, a resident who has been frustrated beyond belief by the lack of transparency and lack of leadership of the Allegany County Health Department, a resident who has justifiable concerns for the rest of the residents in this County. I did not write that letter as someone who has worked for 6 months to try to combat the spread of this virus in Western NY but that is how it was perceived and for that I do apologize. My fellow contact tracers deserved better from me and I’m so sorry to have let them down. They do the work, every single day, of trying to get people who have been exposed to this virus to quarantine so that the spread can be contained. And until this fall, it was working very well, which is a testament to their diligence, dedication and perseverance in the face of so much false information being disseminated.
On September 1, Allegany County had 69 cases and 1 death. It’s now November 6th and cases are nearly 400 with almost 20 deaths.
In NY state, most counties are doing their absolute best to get the spread of this virus under control.
Only Allegany County has subscribed to the ideology that more testing is the reason for more cases.
Only Allegany County decided to issue a statement to that effect in the Shopper, which is delivered to every household in the County.
Only Allegany County has refused to identify areas where clusters and cases are prevalent so that the residents can do more to protect themselves and the others in their lives.
My family lives here, my friends and neighbors live here and unless we have accurate information to help us combat this virus, many more needless deaths and countless infections, many with long term after effects, will happen.
This shouldn’t be a partisan issue, regardless of how partisan this County is. This is a public health issue and should be treated as such!
Karen Patterson
Alfred NY
