HUNTSVILLE, Ala — As we reflect on one year in this global pandemic, leaders are finding the time to look forward. Things do look different in Madison County. But, county officials say we can all have hope.
WATCH: Huntsville sign shop keeps up with demand as CDC guidance changes, mask mandate set to expire
One year after the start of the pandemic, Madison County has been able to adapt. Commissioner Dale strong says it’s been a year of change, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. He says officials knew they had to act quickly in order to keep everyone safe and get the public the information they needed.
Chairman Strong tells our reporter, “We saw it come into the United States and knew within a matter of days, we would have a lot of things-- a lot of issues that we needed to address.”
Madison County representatives held daily briefings to bring the latest information to the public. Now, those briefings are weekly and the county has gotten positive feedback from people who appreciate being kept in the know. Strong tells us some things became high priority. He adds, “My number one objective was to be sure that our hospitals were not inundated at a level that we couldn’t manage.”
He takes a look back. Strong says, “I remember when we were made aware of the first case in Alabama, and the first case in Madison County. You look at all we have going on here. Redstone Arsenal has employees that come from 17 different counties so it was a little different factor than some other counties were dealing with. But, I think the best thing we did is give the best information to the people of North Alabama and the trust there was built.
He assures the people of Madison County that there is a lot to look forward to. Chairman Strong adds, “There’s a lot of hope moving forward. I think we have weathered the storm. The encouragement. The ingenuity of understanding what we had to do to seek additional personal protective equipment… While we’re not all the way out of the woods yet, we’re a lot closer than we were. I just commend all our health care workers, our first responders who stayed the course taking care of the people of our community. We’re fortunate to live where we are and I’m just thankful for how this was handled.”