Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan fielded questions from Hudson Valley residents during a Facebook Live town hall Friday morning.

Prior to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's order closing New York schools until April 1, Molinaro and Ryan announced a two-week school closure last Friday. In response to a resident's question regarding when schools would reopen, Molinaro said not to expect the school year to return to normal anytime soon.

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"The month of April isn't going to be a school month," Molinaro said, noting that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony S. Fauci had indicated the country would need to reassess the progress of the disease after four to eight weeks.

Molinaro said a mobile testing facility would be announced and expected to open early next week, but encouraged residents to be community-minded and allow those who may be experiencing symptoms and are most at risk for health complications to access these services first.

"It's important to know if you've contracted COVID. It's also important to know if you can weather it alone," Molinaro said. "We need to be able to respond to a surge of severe cases.

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