Natasha Vaughn is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Department of Motor Vehicles and County Clerk’s office will be closed until Fri., Mar. 19, for most in-person transactions after seven employees tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak may involve the U.K. variant of the virus and the county has requested the state Health Department look into that possibility, Columbia County Health Director Jack Mabb said March 10. The Columbia County Board of Supervisors announced the day before that the offices located at 560 Warren Street in Hudson, will be closed through the end of next week. “It’s a tough situation,” Mabb said. “But we’ll get through it, and hopefully we won’t have any more positive staff there as the days progress.” The offices first closed Fri., Mar. 5, after one employee tested positive, Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell said. “We closed, but we were told the person [with COVID-19] was fairly isolated,” Murell said. The chairman said the Health Department advised they could open again the following Monday, but Monday morning county officials learned another person had tested positive, so the decision was made to close until Wednesday. After conferring with the Health Department and legal counsel, Murell said it was then decided they needed to close the offices for 10 days, in compliance with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The county Department of Health is urging anyone who conducted business at the county clerk’s office or the Department of Motor Vehicles between March 1 and March 9 to be aware of potential symptoms of COVID-19 and to get tested if there are signs of infection. County Clerk Holly Tanner, who runs the main offices at 560 Warren Street said the staff members who tested positive are all doing fine, and some have minor flu-like symptoms. This 10-day closure is not the longest COVID-related shutdown the county has had, Murell said. The county previously closed the Office for the Aging for 14 days due to a COVID exposure. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.