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TESTING MATERIALS ROADBLOCK TO REOPENING—FEDERAL GOVT PLEASE EXPEDITE
SCHOOLS CANNOT REOPEN.
SOME HOSPITALS UPSTATE MIGHT BE CLEARED FOR ELECTIVE SURGERIES.
IF STATE DECIDES TO REOPEN SCHOOLS.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS WOULD HAVE TO FOLLOW STATEWIDE PLAN WITH STRATEGY PREPARED BY THE STATE NOT DESIGNED YET.
TRACING OF INFECTED PERSONS STOPS SPREAD OF INFECTIONS TO PRESERVE REOPENING—THOUSANDS NEEDED—CUOMO—SHOULD BE STATE RESPONSIBILITY
DESCENDING CURVE FLAT, DESCENT MOMENTUM BEING WATCHED.
WPCNR MONDAY MORNING GOVERNOR CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey. April 20, 2020 UPDATED WITH STATEWIDE CASE NUMBERS ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS 3:30 PM EDT:
On the 51st Day since the first case of coronavirus appeared in New Rochelle, and the 92nd day since the first cases appeared in Seattle and Calornia, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said the hospitalization rate continued steady, the downward slide of coronavirus new infections was flat.
“Anectdotically, ” the Governor said, ” hospitals said there were “less Covid-19 patients flooding emergency rooms easing the “Hellish” conditions seen previously in downstate New York emergency rooms. “They are still at capacity or over capacity, but it’s better.”
The Governor, in the “Q.&A,” said the state was looking at upstate hospitals coronavirus infections and present capacity rates to see if the state could reopen them to elective surgeries again. The Governor said the state was going to have a plan Tuesday to determine if bans on elective surgery (“where hospitals make money on”) could be lifted depending on anticipation of coronavirus spread trends expected to roll up state.
In the “Q.&A.”, the Governor stated in response of schools saying they were planning on reopening, the Governor stated clearly, “They can’t reopen. They are closed.” The Governor for the first time told the media, that schools would have to follow a plan designed by the state to follow standard protocols throughout the reopening process, regarding procedures the districts would have to follow.
On the spread of coronavirus, Governor Cuomo said the Downward Curve was “flat as of yesterday now the question is how long and how steep it is going down and nobody knows. The question is how fast it will come to a low enough number to control it.”
He announced there were 478 deaths from coronavirus Sunday, compared to the 503 on Saturday.
The Governor repeated his call for federal aid to states based on the revenues the states have lost. He said New York had passed its 2020-2021 budget based on what losses the state suffered in revenue on a quarterly basis. Tomorrow the governor said that unless federal aid to New York State was forthcoming he planned cuts of 20% to schools, 20% to local Counties and 20% to hospitals (n the quarter coming)
He called for a 50% Bonus to workers on the front lines be included in any government pay package. He noted 41% of frontline workers were “people of color” : of police and fire, 45% of transit workers, 57% of building cleaning service workers , and 40% of healthcare workers were of color. who he said yesterday came to work despite of danger to themselves, showing their commit to public service and New Yorkers. He noted people of color are disproportionately represented in delivery and childcare services and one third of frontline workers are members of low-income households.
He announced plans for extensive testing in public housing to prevent spread of the disease through Ready Responders to bring health care and more COVID diagnostic testing to residents of public housing in New York City.
He emphasized again as he does every briefing the seriousness of the reopening concept: “This is cause and effect on steroids. What we do today will determine what happens tomorrow.”
He announced the FDA report on the drug being tested by 20 hospitals under a study funded by the federal government would be in tomorrow.
The governor said supplies of test materials was dependent on the federal government taking control of the supply shortages manufacturers are experiencing in reagents.
The governor did not comment or raise the issue of defects in Chinese antibody tests reported today on the front page of The New York Times, or whether NY antibody tests were manufactured in New York, but then no reporter there asked those questions.
Asked in the Q. & A. on who should handle tracing back of discovered corona virus infected persons to persons who may have had contact with infected persons should be the responsibility of New York State. “The government is like a painter with a roller,” the governor analogized, “You need a painter with a brush to get the corners.” Meaning, WPCNR theorizes, the state governments know the makeup and areas, and neighborhoods of their state much more knowledgeably and can hire persons who can canvas them.
The governor said the success of a NY Reopening depended on “Tracing.” He said that the New Rochelle outbreak was stopped from spreading by the state finding out who the infected individual visited (a synagogue gathering), and they traced all who had been in contact with him. “That’s how we stopped it.” The governor pointed out that number tracers who need to be hired to trace new COVID-19 persons discovered after any reopening is not determined yet. Tracing had to be in place to avoid a rapid increase of the coronavirus from newly infected persons when any reopening begins.
Yesterday, the members of the 7 State Governors Task force to coordinate planning reopening issues had been selected. That plan is expected either today or shortly according to the schedule of the group.
The Governor confirmed 4,726 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 247,512 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 247,512 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:
WITH COUNTIES IN THE NY METROPOLITAN AREA HIGHLIGHTED IN BOLD FACE
* ASTERISK NEAR NEW CASE COUNT indicates daily growth rate in new cases, computed by WPCNR and not be the state. SUFFOLK COUNTY CURRENTLY HAS THE HIGHEST DAILY NEW CASE RATE IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA, 2.9%. NEW YORK CITY HAS REDUCED THEIR DAILY GROWTH RATE TO 1.8%, LOWER THAN NASSAU AND SUFFOLK COUNTIES AND WELL BELOW THE 6% NEW YORK CITY WAS GROWING NEW CASES ONE WEEK AGO. :
| County | Total Positive | New Positive |
| Albany | 687 | 5 |
| Allegany | 30 | 0 |
| Broome | 199 | 7 |
| Cattaraugus | 34 | 0 |
| Cayuga | 36 | 0 |
| Chautauqua | 25 | 0 |
| Chemung | 73 | 0 |
| Chenango | 78 | 0 |
| Clinton | 51 | 2 |
| Columbia | 111 | 4 |
| Cortland | 25 | 0 |
| Delaware | 49 | 0 |
| Dutchess | 2,284 | 44 (PLUS 2%)* |
| Erie | 2,109 | 39 |
| Essex | 20 | 2 |
| Franklin | 13 | 0 |
| Fulton | 27 | 0 |
| Genesee | 119 | 2 |
| Greene | 86 | 1 |
| Hamilton | 3 | 0 |
| Herkimer | 49 | 0 |
| Jefferson | 54 | 0 |
| Lewis | 9 | 1 |
| Livingston | 39 | 0 |
| Madison | 106 | 0 |
| Monroe | 1,054 | 22 |
| Montgomery | 35 | 0 |
| Nassau | 30,677 | 664 (PLUS 2.2%) |
| Niagara | 255 | 9 |
| NYC | 136,806 | 2,370 (PLUS 1.8%) |
| Oneida | 279 | 4 |
| Onondaga | 509 | 11 |
| Ontario | 71 | 1 |
| Orange | 6,482 | 103 PLUS 1.6% |
| Orleans | 46 | 0 |
| Oswego | 48 | 1 |
| Otsego | 49 | 1 |
| Putnam | 599 | 7 (PLUS 1.2%) |
| Rensselaer | 177 | 4 |
| Rockland | 9,457 | 93 (PLUS 1%) |
| Saratoga | 254 | 3 |
| Schenectady | 269 | 1 |
| Schoharie | 20 | 0 |
| Schuyler | 7 | 1 |
| Seneca | 18 | 0 |
| St. Lawrence | 110 | 5 |
| Steuben | 167 | 0 |
| Suffolk | 27,662 | 774 (PLUS 2.9%) |
| Sullivan | 544 | 7 (PLUS 1.3%) |
| Tioga | 37 | 2 |
| Tompkins | 119 | 2 |
| Ulster | 877 | 23 (PLUS 2.7%) |
| Warren | 101 | 5 |
| Washington | 65 | 2 |
| Wayne | 50 | 0 |
| Westchester | 24,306 | 503 (PLUS 1.7%) |
| Wyoming | 36 | 0 |
| Yates | 10 | 1 |
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