WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR LETTER TICKER. October 30. 2022:

November 8, 2022, is a very important Election Day. As president of the League of Women Voters ofWestchester County, I would like to reassure voters that New York State elections are secure and reliable. New York’s election process is administered by a bipartisan team of election workers. Workers representing both major parties oversee ballot counting, a common practice nationwide to provide checks and balances in the election process. Election administrators, board employees, and election inspectors/poll workers are required to be residents of your county. The people who run our elections are not strangers. They are members of our communities – neighbors, friends, and family.

Every step of our election process is monitored and secured from the voter registration process to the post-election audit. The voter registration process in New York State ensures that only those meeting state eligibility requirements are able to vote, and it helps keep track of who has cast a ballot. Registered voters can vote early in person, or on Election Day in person, or by absentee ballot. All absentee ballots must be returned by mail, or in person during early voting or on Election Day at any poll location in our county, or at the Westchester Board of Elections in White Plains. Secured drop boxes are posted at every poll location, and are monitored by trained election inspectors.

Ballots are submitted to election machines that have been pre-approved by the NYS Board of Elections. Each piece of election equipment is tested before being used on election day and all voting machines are barred from connecting to the internet. Finally, all county boards of elections must conduct post-election audits to further verify results.

Whichever way you choose to vote this year, know that by doing so you are making democracy work.

Kathy Meany, President

League of Women Voters of Westchester County

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WPCNR CORONA VIRUS Surveillance. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. October 27, 2022:

The Westchester County Department of Health is offering Pfizer COVID-19 boosters for children ages 5-11 starting tomorrow Friday, October 28.

Health Commissioner Sherlita Amler, MD, said: “I encourage parents to schedule their children’s boosters as soon as possible. We anticipate an uptick in COVID-19 cases after Halloween and through the upcoming holidays, just as we experienced the past few years. These boosters will extend your family’s protection against serious COVID-19 symptoms, and help you avoid exposing more vulnerable family and friends.”

Flu season is here, and families can also schedule flu vaccines at the same time at the Health Department Clinic in White Plains.

The Westchester County Health Department will offer both the flu vaccine and pediatric COVID-19 bivalent boosters by appointment, as follows:

·         Fridays, Nov. 3 and 18, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at 134 Court Street, White Plains

·         Thursday, Nov. 3, Yonkers Riverfront Library, 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

·         Monday, Nov. 14, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 134 Court Street, White Plains

·         December Friday appointments will be added later, so please check back.

Amler added: “Combining vaccines is safe and it is more convenient to schedule both at the same time. Children often receive multiple shots at once, and you are much less likely to skip a vaccine if both are given together. Vaccines for flu and COVID-19 offer the best protection we have to fight these diseases, so the sooner you get vaccinated, the better.” 

Go to www.westchestergov.com/health to book your vaccine visit.

In the U.S., flu activity is usually highest between December and February, but can last into May. One flu vaccine now provides protection all season long and can prevent illness or reduce the severity of flu symptoms. The vaccine becomes fully effective after about two weeks.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By Dan Seidel. October 27, 2022:

(Editor’s Note:) The Appellate Court 2nd Department in Brooklyn has upheld the legal binding of the 1925 covenant attached to the Ridgeway Country Club property in a decision issued Tuesday

Dan Seidel, in the statement below, the attorney who handled the Action 1 of the Appeal, which he and John Sheehan filed on the involving environmental issues on the property explains the impact of the decision to WPCNR this morning in this analysis:

“Yesterday, the Appellate Division, 2nd Dept., published its decision in the “2nd part” of the Appeals filed against Judge Lefkowitz’s decision to allow FASNY to build its school on the old Ridgeway Country Club property.

There were 2 appeals: one by Gedney Association, John Sheehan and me. Dan Seidel, on SEQRA/Environmental/Common Council issues and a second (called “Action #2) contesting the school placement on the property due to a “deed restriction” in Gedney Farms deeds concerning “institutional use”.

When the Ridgeway property was sold in its entirety to Farrell Builders, without contingencies, the property zoned 3/4 acre single family use, as of right, Gedney Assoc, Sheehan and Seidel made a prompt decision to withdraw their appeal as their issues were now moot – it would be a waste of the Court’s time to read all the papers and hear the matter if the matter was moot.

If Action #1 was NOT withdrawn and the Court was made to read papers on moot issues, there was a very good chance Gedney, Sheehan and Seidel COULD be sanctioned and have to pay costs (statutory and printing) to FASNY.

The Action #2 Appeal was not withdrawn, was prosecuted and the decision published yesterday was issued on their arguments, the Appellate Court deciding that Judge Lefkowitz made the correct decision/conclusion, but should have afforded those plaintiffs in Action #2 a chance to prosecute a “declaratory judgment” on the definition of “institution” – again the Appellate Court deciding that a school could be considered legit under a vague and undefined deed restriction.

The Appellate Court decided against the plaintiffs in Action #2, Action #1 having already been withdrawn with no costs to be awarded to any party, and DID award costs AGAINST the plaintiffs in Action #2 (the deed restriction appeal) to be paid to the defendant FASNY. The Appellate Court “sent the case back to Supreme Court” for the assessment and awarding of costs to FASNY.

The costs of the Appellate printing could be in the tens of thousands of dollars – receipts for those costs must be produced to the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Judgments Section.

The plaintiffs in Action #2 can appeal that award of costs, but the same Appellate judges will be assigned THAT appeal (if filed) and may render a harsher decision on THAT appeal against those plaintiffs, IF an appeal is undertaken.

Bottom line is that White Plains won, kept the property development as “low impact environmentally sensitive grounds” and will get yearly property and school taxes from the McMansions to be built. The action against Judge Lefkowitz’s decision, I am assuming, is finally over.

This is my take on the decision.

The decision may be read at this link: https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/AD2/Handdowns/2022/Decisions/D69688.pdf

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We are seeing an uptick in RSV and the flu in the Northern Hemisphere and particularly in the United States. Given an anticipated uptick in COVID-19, the media is coining this the “triple threat.” Here is the current state of affairs and what it means for you.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

RSV is a common virus that typically circulates during the fall, winter, and spring. Before the pandemic, everyone could count on being infected at least once before they reached the age of 2. Thereafter, people are typically infected multiple times throughout their lifetime.

Most people recover in a week or two, but it can be serious for two groups:

• Young children. Before the pandemic, we saw ~2,300 per 100,000 children under the age of 1 hospitalized. (In comparison, the estimated hospitalizations rate is 30-40 per 100,000 children for flu and 48 per 100,000 children for COVID-19, pre-vaccine.) RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lung) and pneumonia (infection of the lungs).
• Older adults. Just like COVID-19, RSV is rough on older adults because their immune systems are weaker and they are more likely to have underlying health conditions, like heart or lung disease. In the U.S. an estimated 177,000 older adults are hospitalized for RSV each year and 14,000 of them die.

Overall, RSV is on the rise. As shown below, the percent positivity rate is above 10-15% in the U.S.—this means RSV is spreading faster than we can test for it and is causing an exponential growth in cases. However, we aren’t at record numbers yet. In fact, we are still below our very unusual 2021 summer surge. Almost all states are showing the same general trend.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Trends United States. Source Here.

There is quite a bit of discussion regarding how RSV is transmitted. The standard precaution for healthcare workers is hand washing, hospital gowns, and gloves. (Notice masks are not recommended.) These precautions stemmed from older studies showing the main mode of RSV transmission is primarily through large particles in the eye or nose or directly touching contaminated surfaces. RSV does have small particles that travel far, but this doesn’t seem to be a main mode given this older research.

There is currently no vaccine for RSV. However, last week we received very good news from two manufacturers (GSK and Pfizer) that vaccines in development for adults were highly effective: 82% efficacy rate for GSK and 86% for Pfizer. We can’t expect a vaccine for this season, but maybe next year.

Influenza (Flu)

The official “flu season” started two weeks ago and case numbers are higher and earlier compared to the past two pandemic years and compared to before the pandemic. (See red triangles in the graph below.)

(CDC)

Flu rates are highest among 0-4 year olds, but cases in every age group are increasing. We are seeing regional trends with the flu, as the South has the most activity but East Coast states are starting to increase, too, particularly New York.

(CDC)

Flu viruses can be detected up to 5-7 days after becoming sick, but people are most contagious in the first 3-4 days after symptoms begin. Symptoms typically begin about 2 days (but can range from 1-4 days) after flu viruses infect a person’s respiratory tract. Some people can be infected with flu viruses and have no symptoms but still spread the virus.

There is a flu vaccine. We won’t know how well the flu vaccine works until next year (we collect real world data in real time), but lab data is indicating the vaccine is a good match this year. Unfortunately, flu vaccine uptake dropped during the pandemic.

COVID-19

Then there is COVID-19, which is calming down in Europe, even in Germany. We are also getting good news from Singapore, where the Omicron subvariant XBB took hold and caused an infection wave. Thankfully their XBB infection wave was smaller than the BA.5 wave. (We expected the opposite.)

In the U.S., wastewater is stalling, while the Omicron subvariants, and particularly BQ.1.1, take hold. BQ.1.1 has now grown to 16% of reported cases. We typically see a variant’s impact at around 50%, so we still have some time.

SARS-CoV-2 wastewater trends during pandemic. Source: Biobot Analytics

However, hospitalizations have started to rise for those over the age of 65, which is not a welcoming trend given that subvariants have yet to take over.

COVID19 daily admissions per 100K, by age group (NYT)

What does this all mean?

It’s becoming a petri dish out there. The triple threat specifically, though, isn’t in full throttle yet. This is clearly displayed in Chicago’s weekly surveillance report below where some viruses are rising but not all.

Respiratory Virus Laboratory Surveillance in Chicago

Will a triple threat come? This is one of the biggest debates among epidemiologists— the concept of whether we are witnessing virus-virus interaction. We know very little about how well viruses co-circulate with each other. For example, is flu spiking early because COVID-19 isn’t spiking yet? Maybe. Could RSV spike, then decline, then COVID-19 take over, then decline, then flu spike, and then decline? Maybe. Or, could they all spike at the same time? Maybe. We just don’t know what will happen, but a resurgence is expected.

This winter also depends on the strength of our healthcare system. The combination of our usual viruses co-circulating with COVID-19, burnt out healthcare workers, understaffed hospitals (in 2021, over 330,000 workers left healthcare), and staff being out for illnesses themselves, does not paint a pretty picture.

Bottom line

Lots of viruses are spreading right now and it’s a bit earlier than normal. We don’t have a triple threat yet, but I don’t think we want to see one, as I’m concerned for our healthcare systems. Do your part by getting vaccinated, staying at home while you’re sick, and other measures like washing hands, wearing a mask, and getting that airflow moving.

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