THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR

New Yorkers seeking to file an unemployment insurance claim should visit labor.ny.gov or call the Telephone Claim Center at (888) 209-8124. Below are some resources that will assist New Yorkers in filing their claims:

Cumbersome federal policy that slowed New York from distributing benefits lifted

Monday morning rollout of improved application, over 3,100 DOL representatives solely dedicated to answering unemployment benefit needs in improved process

WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. From the Governor’s Office. April 21, 2020:

The New York State Department of Labor Monday announced the launch of a new application for New Yorkers to apply for traditional Unemployment Insurance or the new COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to the Governor, said in the Governor’s News Conference Monday, long-awaited checks for the 271,000 cleared backlogged applications, should be arriving by direct deposit within a week if mailed, two weeks. She encouraged new applicants to choose direct deposit in filling out the new application.

This one-stop-shop for unemployment benefits will connect New Yorkers with the benefits they deserve faster, without requiring them to call the Department of Labor.

Prior to Monday, due to cumbersome federal guidelines, New Yorkers were required to apply for regular Unemployment Insurance and be rejected before applying for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

With this new application, which aligns with updated federal policy, New Yorkers will be able to simply fill out one form to get the correct benefits.

In conjunction with this morning’s rollout of the improved application, DOL has been deploying over 3,100 representatives solely dedicated to answering unemployment benefit needs seven days a week. This is up from 400 who previously manned the DOL call center prior to the pandemic.

Since the COVID-19 crisis began, DOL has paid approximately $2.2 billion in Unemployment Insurance benefits to 1.1 million New Yorkers. The application call backlog prior to April 8 has been reduced to 4,305 from 275,000.

“I have been unemployed before myself, and I understand the pain, fear and anxiety New Yorkers are facing. The DOL’s mission is to help our neighbors through some of their toughest days, and in the last week we have made great strides in updating our systems,”NYS Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said. “While it appears the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to stabilize — at least from the public health perspective — we know that many New Yorkers are still facing an uncertain economic future, and the Department of Labor will continue to dedicate every resource available to helping New Yorkers weather this storm.”

The updated unemployment benefits application system, available here, will determine which unemployment program — unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance — New Yorkers should apply for and then prompt them to answer a specific set of questions.

The application builds on the new online system the department rolled out on Friday, April 10th, in partnership with the State Office of Information Technology Services and Google Cloud, to help manage the exponential and unprecedented increase in new claims resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which was included in the Federal CARES Act, provides unemployment benefits for individuals who are ineligible for traditional unemployment insurance. Examples of those covered by PUA include:

• Self-employed New Yorkers;
• Independent contractors;
• New Yorkers who worked for an app-based company (i.e. “gig workers”)
• Farmers;
• Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who have COVD-19 symptoms and are seeking a diagnosis;
• Those living with a household member who has been diagnosed with COVID-19;
• Those providing care for a family or household member diagnosed with COVID-19;
• A primary caregiver for a child unable to attend school or another facility due to COVID-19;
• Those unable to reach their place of employment due to an imposed quarantine or because they have been advised by a medical provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19;
• Those scheduled to commence new employment that cannot reach their workplace as a direct result of COVID-19;
• Those who became a major breadwinner because the head of their household died from COVID-19;
• Those who quit their job as a direct result of COVID-19;
• Those whose place of employment closed as a direct result of COVID-19;
• Those with insufficient work history and affected by COVID-19; and
• New Yorkers otherwise not qualified for regular or extended UI benefits and affected by COVID-19

In addition, New Yorkers concerned about food insecurity are reminded that resources are available across the state. Anyone looking for assistance can find a local food bank, including those supported by New York State, by visiting Feeding America’s website here.

The New York State Department of Labor is dedicated to ensuring that every New Yorker who is entitled to unemployment insurance benefits will receive all benefits due.

New Yorkers seeking to file an unemployment insurance claim should visit labor.ny.gov or call the Telephone Claim Center at (888) 209-8124. Below are some resources that will assist New Yorkers in filing their claims:

Fact sheet on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

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 51^st Day since the first case of coronavirus appeared in New Rochelle, and the 92^nd 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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