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WPCNR SATURDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey. May 16, 2020:
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today cleared Westchester County and Suffolk County Hospitals to begin scheduling elective surgery and ambulatory care patients because their capacity ratios to handle corononavirus patients had been met.
In response to incise questioning by Jesse McKinley of The New York Times in the “Q. & A.,” Governor Cuomo confirmed that all 5 regions that were cleared for reopening have tracing personnel now in place to track the contacts of covid-19 diagnosed individuals social contacts. The Governor said no region could open without in-place tracers ready to go. (FYI: Westchester County this week advertised for persons wanting to be tracers).
The Governor said 157 persons died yesterday from Coronavirus in New York State, up from yesterday. He said new hospitalized cases had declined. The coronavirus infections curve continued its slow decline, saying “Spikes (in fections) rise quickly, resolve slowly.”
He provided no new information on the spread of Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (PMSIS) that was up to 119 cases affecting children from 1 to 21, whom have had coronavirus exposure and show antibodies to corona. In yesterday’s briefing he cautioned on PMSIS:
“You know with this virus, I just want to say on a personal level, and I want to make sure everybody understands this – -the facts here have been changing and the facts have only been getting more negative. This started that it was only going to attack vulnerable people, seniors, people with co-morbidities.
I was speaking to a doctor today about a young person who passed away of a stroke, from Covid. No underlying conditions, nothing else. It was a stroke. No respiratory illness. Well, what happened? Well apparently, the virus can affect the heart, and the liver, and other organs besides the lungs, and we didn’t know that.
Children weren’t going to be infected. Accept now we’re studying 100 cases where children are in fact affected by the virus and some of them very serious. And that 100 cases, I’ll wager that’s going to only go up and it’s going to be much more widespread than anyone thinks. So, the amount of personal responsibility here to keep oneself safe, to keep one’s family safe, I cannot stress highly enough, do not underestimate this virus and do not play with this virus.”
He announced that New York Horse Racing could resume June 1 without spectators, at New York racetracks .
He cleared car racing at Watkins Glen.
He said he anticipated no more lockdowns, but that regions choosing to reopen that have been cleared would have to watch for “spikes.”
The Governor said he expected numbers of infections to increase but had no arbitrary figure as to how much percentage would have to increase before regions had to make adjustments, saying it depends on the population of the region and the locations in the regions where “spikes” in infections were increasing.
He said he realized people are restless: “Everybdy wants to come out. It’s how they react when they come out. You’ll see some increase in numbers but not see a spike. It’s still relying on what we do. So be smart. Be diligent.”
He in a direct plea to the U.S. Senate considering the relief bill for the states passed by the House of Representatives Friday, said “Try to be great in this moment.” (and pass the bill).
He said in a “Q. & A” question regaring the New York State Legislature, that he would not cut the budget until Congress had made its position clear on relief for the states. The governor said that the legislature would have to take up the question of what to cut out of the state budget which faces a $61 Billion “hole.”
“There will be fights,” the Governor said.
The Governor previously announced that the state will allow elective outpatient treatments to resume in counties and hospitals without significant risk of COVID-19 surge in the near term, and a total of 49 counties can now resume elective surgeries:
| Albany | Herkimer | Rensselaer |
| Allegany | Jefferson | Saratoga |
| Broome | Lewis | Schenectady |
| Cattaraugus | Livingston | Schoharie |
| Cayuga | Madison | Schuyler |
| Chautauqua | Monroe | St. Lawrence |
| Chemung | Montgomery | Steuben |
| Chenango | Niagara | Suffolk |
| Clinton | Oneida | Sullivan |
| Columbia | Onondaga | Tompkins |
| Cortland | Ontario | Ulster |
| Delaware | Orange | Warren |
| Dutchess | Orleans | Wayne |
| Essex | Oswego | Westchester |
| Franklin | Otsego | Wyoming |
| Fulton | Putnam | Yates |
| Genesee |
The Governor called on the U.S. Senate to pass the coronavirus relief bill that was passed by the House last night. The bill includes $500 billion for states and $375 billion for locals; Medicaid funding for the most vulnerable; increased SNAP food assistance; 100 percent FEMA federal assistance; funding for testing; and repeals SALT to help states most affected by COVID-19.