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WPCNR FRIDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONOVA VIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey May 1, 2020:

Governor Andrew Cuomo closed New York Schools, colleges, private schools, public schools through the rest of this academic year through June, today.

He said the time available for schools to reorganize their facilities to comply with social distancing in May and June effectively and keep children safe  was “a physical impossibility.”

“We are going to be asking businesses to come up with plans that safeguard workers when they reopen. We need schools to come up with plans also that bring those precautions into the schoolroom. That is also for colleges, and the state will approve those plans,” the Governor said.

A decision on whether summer school would be conducted in schools would be made in a month. If in-person attendance at Summer School was considered not possible to maintain social distancing, summer school would be conducted using “distant learning” at home.

The governor directed schools and school districts and colleges to draft reopening plans for the fall with a specific list of components which will have to be approved by the  state.

The Governor expressed concern about the Hospitalization Rate which he said continued to bounce between 900 new hospitalizations a week and 950. He said it was important to learn more about who was being hospitalized, where they were from, their work, whether they were essential workers, in an effort to  find a common denominator that would account for the steady hospitalization rate so this sector could be dealt with more effectively,

The Hospitalization Rate, according to the Center for Contagious Deceases, must have gone down for 14 consecutive days, before a state can reopen an area.

The governor announced alarming rates of increase in mental health problems. Half of all Americans say they have seen their health deteriorate. Three quarters of Americans say their sleep has been affected.

Domestic violence was up 15% in March and 30% in April. The state has set up a domestic violence hotline. 844-997-2121. 

Frontline workers, the Governor feels, can be particularly affected by stress issues related to the pressures of their jobs. To help them acquire the mental health advice they need, the governor has directed all insurance deductibles and copays to suspend those payments for frontline workers.

The governor said to text NYFRONTLINE at 741-741 for frontline workers needing help dealing with mental issues.

In the news Q & A.,discrepancies in how many have died from nursing homes from covid was raised, again. Dr. Zucker, Director of the New York State Department of Health said nursing homes were undergoing a protocol to investigate whether or not the nursing homes had overstated the number of deaths from COVID. He said if the home (s) had been found to have deliberately overstated, they could be sued for fraud. The investigation is ongoing.

No questions were asked during a cacaphonous news conference that sounded like “The Front Page.”

Reporters ignored previous news conference behaviors requested by the Governor out the window.

No questions were asked about when the tracing program  system (discussed by Michael Bloomberg yesterday) would be ready for deployment in the field.

No questions were asked whether the schools remaining closed would affect  NY Reopening or delay it to August. However that is still fourteen consecutive weeks of declining hospitalization rate away at earliest, before the state can reopen.

Governor Cuomo was asked by a reporter who shall rename nameless, “Considering the 300,000 infections and 18, 610 deaths, how do you rate your performance?”

The Governor replied “I tried my best.”