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JOHN BAILEY
The Old CitizeNetReporter at the WVOX mircrophone
Appears weekly on WVOX at 7:50 AM with the White Plains Report a feature of the nicest people on the radio, Dennis Nardone and Tonny on Good Morning Westchester at WVOX 1460 AM AND WVOX.COM. Here is a transcript of today’s report.
Good Morning, Dennis from White Plains New York USA where its 40 misty, miserable WPCNR degrees.
White Plains Fitness February promotion is starting its last 13 days for citizens from all over the count can try special offerings from White Plains Fitness businesses that offer free trial classes, new member deals and workout bundles,
You can find out all about it by going to www.wpbid.com
Next month the BID will be staging March Into SelfCare, featuring special discounts and prices on beauty treatments haircuts and massages from more than 20 White Plains grooming establishments. More details on the deals to come
Westchester County had a good 6 days in coronavirus positives, Dennis. Infection rates of those tested took dives.
If you follow the positive tests numbers on February 9 one week ago, 4.6% tested positive, the 10th, 4.6%, the 11th, 4.2% dropping to 4% on the 12th, lower than it’s been for weeks. Up slightly to 4.2% the 13th, and 3.6% on Valentine’s Day when people obviously behaved themselves.
The positive test average was 4.4%
Positives have not been this low since the week of November 11 through 17, 2020. That week last November, 2,324 positives were registered . The last six days through Valentine’s Day 2, 912 positives were recorded compared to the 2,324 that week in November when Westchester started its rise in cases again. The County is at 50% less positive cases the benning of the pandemic 10 months ago.
The percentage of positive cases though very good news and thanks perhaps to the cold weather and an abundance of caution is not a sign to relax.
Those 2, 912 new persons of 68,934 tests diagnosed with covid means that if the hospitalization rate continues at 5% of those infected, if the current medication is not as effective as we believe it is, if we think we are immune—we may have 145 of those 2,912 new cases being hospitalized within 10 days.
We have to keep taking precautions still…lower positive rates does not mean covid is gone. You just have not encountered it yet. Or you did but were wearing a mask, and did not get it.
There’s another factor that continues to make Westchester vulnerable to Covid, Dennis.
Hunger.
I did some research yesterday for another organization, and I was astounded to learn that more ever our neighbors right here in White Plains need our help. The Covid-19 epidemic has overwhelmed Meals on Wheels. The need for meals has doubled since last March.
The number of volunteers who deliver meals has gone down. Meals on Wheels is seeking more volunteers or donate time or money to keep their outreach to the shut-ins, and unmobile persons needing to eat. $54 supplies two meals a day to for a week for one person. You can learn more about Meals on Wheels at www.mowwp.org.
Lifting Up Westchester in White Plains feeds 60-80 persons every weekday Monday through Friday at Grace Episcopal Church they also provide sandwiches and canned food for take-home each day and Fridays, individuals can take enough food to last the weekend.
The staggering truth is that according to Feeding Westchester the organization of 300 partners across the county provided twice as many meals in 2020 than in 2019. They served between 260,000 to 300,000 residents in Westchester in 10 months.
There are 1 million people living in Westchester. This means one third of them are hungry every day.
The county provided $400,000 for food relief to such organizations, but this problem is so chronic due to job losses, having to stay at home, and lost wages due to the epidemic that the need deserves more effort of the county to address it. Perhaps paying restaurants and food establishments to stay open (employ more staff) and serve hot and cold meals to hungry residents in need. When the Covid plague goes away they will be customers for life.
People who Line up for food today is not just homeless and mentally ill persons. Grace Church says the hungry may be unemployed day laborers, retired persons, young men and women unable to find jobs or recent immigrants who have jobs, but who need help to make pay checks stretch.
See you next week.