Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. tests positive for COVID-19

UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. on Tuesday announced he has tested positive for COVID-19.

“I’m feeling fine. I have no symptoms. However, I will be quarantining immediately upon the completion of this [announcement],” Picente said in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon.

He was scheduled to a hold coronavirus briefing for Oneida County on Tuesday afternoon, but instead, he’ll hold that briefing from his home on Wednesday.

Picente says he’s been “cautious” and “protective” during the pandemic and has been tested twice a week since last May.

Everyone else in his office is feeling fine and have tested negative in their most recent tests, he added.

“I’ve been extremely careful. The holidays were spent with just my lovely wife and I at home alone. We did not entertain. We did not even see my in-laws, her parents … I did not see my sisters. We did not gather with any friends nor have I been to any social events or any political or public events of any nature,” said Picente.

He calls it a lesson that it can happen “even to those of us who are the most cautious and the most protective of ourselves, our families, and our friends.”

Picente noted that his office will continue to provide updates on the pandemic’s impact on Oneida County, as it has done throughout the past several months.