Bartleman: Federal Coronavirus Money Coming Soon

A McCracken County official who recently participated in a conference call with federal government officials about the coronavirus response is sharing some of what he has learned, and what he thinks may be in store for local residents as the pandemic continues to spread.

McCracken County Commissioner Bill Bartleman spoke to the Greg Dunker Show Thursday morning about the call Wednesday with Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and several other high-level government officials to discuss the government's coronavirus response.

Bartleman said one of the main topics of discussion was the relief money coming for local businesses and residents who have been affected by the pandemic. He said officials are doing everything they can to expedite the process of getting money into the hands of those who need it during this difficult time.  

"Normally the federal government works real slow, and they're very bureaucratic in what they do. It appears that they're really working hard to get all of these things put together really quickly," Bartleman said. "Hopefully within a week they start offering the incentives for local businesses, and for individuals the checks should be here within a couple of weeks. The real take away for me was that the bureaucrats down below the presidential level are working really hard to get it done pretty quickly."

Many area jails are also making efforts to get ready for the virus by trying to alleviate some of their overcrowding issues. Bartleman said some non-violent inmates who have completed most of their sentence, or those who have health issues are being released on a case-by-case basis to help free up space inside the jail to allow for increased social distancing. He said McCracken County Jailer David Knight has already taken several actions to prepare for what may be coming.  

"Fortunately in McCracken County we've got a really good jailer. He began immediately to limit visitation, and everybody that's in the jail is tested medically for temperature and symptoms. Nothing has hit our county jail yet. Also, with the cooperation of judges and others, they've reduced the population of the county jail by about 120. It was close to 600, now it's about 450 I believe." Bartleman said.

Bartleman said the situation we are in right now is so unique that there really isn't anything in recent history to compare it to, adding that he thinks this will be a long-term event that will require everyone to make sacrifices.

"This is just an unprecedented situation we're in right now. This isn't a snow storm that came through, it's not a tornado or an ice storm that affected a small area. This affects everybody, from newborn babies to senior citizens in nursing homes. It's not something you can see the end to. When we saw the ice storm, we got up the next morning and saw the damage. They began immediately to make repairs. But here, we're just sitting at home waiting to see what happens next. I don't think this is gonna end anytime soon. I think we'll be locked up most of the summer." He said.