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 REFUGEE REPORT. From NYC Mayor Eric Adams news conference, New York City. News & Comment by John F. Bailey October 4, 2022:

Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday night he would not continue building heated tent shelters on the Orchard Beach in the Bronx to house refugees exiled from Texas by Governor Greg Abbott. Adams cited “puddling” in the Orchard Beach parking lot and in nearby communities as the reasons.

In a news conference Monday night, Mayor Adams announced of the 1,000 more refugees planned to be housed at Orchard Beach, 500 would be housed on Randalls Island (under the Triboro Bridge), where Icahn Stadium is located. What happens to the rest is not clear at this time.

The decision was based on the beach vulnerability to weather events, comes in the wake of protest by Westchester County Executive George Latimer that Orchard Beach that it was too close to neighborhoods and towns nearby, (even though Orchard Beach is in New York City limits, and is well isolated off the Hutchinson River Parkway).

No other areas outside New York City have stepped forward to help Mayor Adams with his dealing with the “Texas Not Wanteds,” to this reporter’s knowledge.

No Westchester locations such as County golf courses, county parks that Westchester County controls were offered as possible replacements for the Orchard Beach site. No towns, or cities in the county stepped up to offer any facilities or buildings to house the Texas refugees to this reporter’s knowledge.

More to the point no apartment owners and independent business organizations have stepped up to investigate possible housing localities.

Long Island counties also have not stepped up to aid the 14,000 “Texas Not Wanteds,” by offering alternative locations, that this reporter is aware of. Neither has New Jersey or Connecticut.

There are still some 13,000 refugees that New York City is scrambling to house in alternative sites due to overcrowding in existing NYC shelters.

Meanwhile up in Albany, Governor Kathy Hochul is in a position to make a stand and help these poor souls, women, children, men infants.

Where does her opponent Lee Zeldin stand? In 3 months he may have to handle this crisis of refugees. How would he?

This is a humanity check for politicians everywhere in this state.

Do you care about people, really?

There but for the grace of God go you.

Would would Jesus do?

There is still time to step up to make the Texas Not Wanteds, feel wanted, welcomed and cared about in America’s greatest state. Refugees, immigrants and oppressed people made New York the greatest state.

They will again.

New York has always been Hope followed by Action.

Act!

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SEPTEMBER 1-30 COVID WESTCHESTER INFECTIONS WERE 1,018 LESS THAN LAST MONTH.

ORANGE, ROCKLAND & SULLIVAN COUNTIES AT RISK FOR POLIO.

WPCNR CORONA VIRUS SURVEILLANCE. From the New York State Covid Tracker. Observation & Analysis by John F. Bailey. October 3, 2022 UPDATED::

This year September new Covid cases were more  than last September setting the stage for another wave  covid in Westchester County in November and December.

UPDATED WITH CORRECTION: The Westchester September new cases of covid in the 30 days September 1 to 30 2022, were 1,018 cases less than last month,  August 1 to 31—when Westchester had lowered infections 4 straight weeks, totaling 6,812. The September 1-30 infections 5,794 were 15% less infections, despite the growth in the spread over the month..

 Since September 1, Westchester new infections of new covid have risen to 193 average new infections a day, compared to September 2021 rate of 150 average infections a day.

The infection spread rate the last two weeks of this month is very encouraging. 2,933 persons infected with covid during 1,336 persons this past week, a spread rate of 1 person infecting ½ a person. This shows the covid bivalent which is  the covid virus variant (the leading covid strain causing 90%  infections),  is being spread less because people may be actually being more careful.

The  new momentum in the infections for the 30 days in September, with persons getting sick faster from covid  and recovering very shortly would seem to indicate that reckless socializing, “back to normal, no separation of desks no screens, no mandatory testing” starts to almost all Westchester School which no longer are required to file covid reports indicates  a “whistling past the graveyard attitude.” Officials appear to be declining to tell parents and residents the demographics of the infections, how many children are getting sick, and are particularly reluctant to require vaccinations to attend school. The legislature in Albany could do that. But they do not want to get the public upset going into the midterms elections.

Last year when vaccinations slowed infections in the spring of 2021, the infection rates were below 1% at the end of  June.  Beaches opened. Restaurants were opened.That  the infection rate to 1-1/2 % in August and then, and then ballooned in September 2021 to over 2% — now the Westchester County infection rate for last week was 6.5% on Saturday, 199 of 2,499 testing positive.

Last fall, that September infection rise, with vaccinations, school precautions, October produced an average 1.5% positives a day, a total of 2,633 that resulted in a jump because of socializing in November which had 4,068 infections leading to the December explosion of 44,877 infections in Westchester County. 

It would be a good idea for persons who are not fully vaccinated to get vaccinated, and get the bivalent vaccination. I got the bivalent shot Friday. I felt muscle pain in the arm and was a little tired the next day. It is the best thing you can do for yourself with the uncertainty of behavior of the public and the uncertainty in the schools. If you are over 18, you should get the bivalent shot.

Meanwhile, Governor Hochul in a news release at the end of last week warned about not having your children vaccinated for polio. Polio, if you as an adult are unvaccinated for the polio vaccine, or if your children have not been inoculated, will if you or child are exposed to it, you can be crippled, gradually paralyzed, and need an iron lung to breathe.

There is no cure. Here is an excerpt from the State Health Department Press Release:

Governor Hochul announces Polio a threat.

“New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett declared poliovirus an imminent threat to public health in New York State, thereby expanding the availability of funding and resources to support local health departments in establishing immunization clinics, deploying vaccine to health care partners, and conducting outreach to unvaccinated and under-vaccinated New Yorkers to increase immunization rates particularly in the areas affected by the virus and among children.

Following the identification of a case of paralytic polio in an unvaccinated individual in Rockland County, the State Health Department launched wastewater surveillance, a tool to check for signs of the virus in sewage water in communities. Sequence analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has since found repeated evidence of poliovirus detected in samples collected from Rockland County, Orange County, and Sullivan County as well as detected in samples collected from New York City and Nassau County.

New York State has focused its efforts in areas where the threat is concentrated, which includes where there is repeated detection, and where there is a relatively low percentage of children that have completed their three-dose polio regimen by the age of 2. These areas include Rockland, Orange, and Sullivan Counties.“

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WPCNR CORONA VIRUS SURVEILLANCE. Statistics from NYS Covd 19 Tracker. Observations & Analysis by John F. Bailey. September 29, 2022 UPDATED 1:30 P.M. with Wednesday new cases:

Westchester County began the week with 135 new cases of covid Sunday September 25, 160 new persons testing positive Monday, the 26^th, and 194 new cases of covid on Tuesday, September 27, nnd this just in from Governor Hochul, 198 new cases Wednesday. This week starts with an average 171 new cases a day  compared to last week when the first four days yielded 966 positives, Sunday through Wednesday.

This last week of September could show a significant decline from last week when Westchester registered 1,495 new cases of covid. Currently Westchester is running 171 new cases a day which would — providing no jump in cases   in midweek—could produce 1,197 cases for the week a 18% decrease.

If last Thursday, Friday and Saturday figures main last week’s number of infections, (197, Sept 22; 167, Sept 23 and 135 Saturday, the 24) Westchester will go up to 1, 696 infections for the week, which would be the fourth straight week the County has failed to contain covid infection spread.

Should today, tomorrow and Saturday continue to drop positive infections Westchester will cut back infections signiicantly for the first time since in 3 weeks–the week of the most positive decline was September 4 to 10, when infections dropped to 1,026 from 1,246 the week before Labor Day

For the record the County beat back new covid infections all of August dropping the number infections for August to 7,072 compared to 10,298 for all of July–a 31% drop. Four weeks of steady decline in August has now been followed by a month of covid gaining momentum.

It is disappointing to see the progress or lack of progress in September.

However this is the week when there could be higher numbers of infections from schools just beginning to start. We will know if School District administrations report the new covid cases in timely fashion, and the County Health Department publishes the new school infections by district. The school districts are by law required to report new covid cases to the County Health Department.

Last September the infections totaled  4,925 infections  for the month from Labor Day to October 2 with remote learning in schools, social distancing and intense testing in schools.   peaked at 695 cases in the last week of September after schools under remote learning.

This year, with schools open with virtually no social distancing and no masking rules no glass separations between desks, Westchester has already seen 5,694 new cases of covid for the month of September, up 769 cases or 16% ahead of last September covid spreading pace.

In the last month in September 2022, Westchester has recorded  a 7%  positive average of those tested in 4 weeks, testing positive with tests being reported at only 2 to 3,000 a day.

 In September of 2021, things were quite different.

The month that started the third wave of covid into December and January of this year,  the average of number of tests were  about 9,000 a day.  Social distancing and limited gatherings and restaurants theatres were closed, people worked remotely, there was no vaccine.

At this time  last year we in Westchester County  were  limiting the disease. 

When schools were in remote learning, the average number of infections of covid on much higher testing universes a day, was  2.2%.

We were very unhappy with  that.

Governor Cuomo who had stopped covid spread still urged us to not let up. But  we relaxed and built covid spread in October November and December  despite an average positive test rate of 2.2%. By December the Thanksgiving holidays with intense mingling had to be  mostly responsible for  new positives exploding to 11,000 in the week before Christmas with new positive tests of those tested 

Well, things are quite different today in September 2022.

We are having more infections a day, more infections per week  with a vaccine, but with greatly relaxed social conditions and business and school operations.  The state is no longer reporting weekly school infections leaving that up to the schools.

The county is infecting at a much higher rate than last September which produced a great universe of infections last January, February and March, with April finally containing covid again in Westchester County.

Predictably, we relaxed again as the state legislature took away Governor Cuomo’s powers to manage Covid and decided themselves to open up socialization, businesses, restaurants, school restrictions and over the summer, masking. People have even resisted getting completely vaccinated.

Well “getting back to normal” policies in time for the elections were eagerly adopted by the legislature,  and Governor Hochul went along with that, but she has continued covid reporting as always, a positive. Otherwise, we will not know where we are.

The worst new policy — we no longer hold the schools accountable for monitoring and controlling school spreading of the disease.

Maybe this will work, but school districts cannot cover up clusters of infections if they develop. We were on remote learning last year and the disease ballooned in schools even when infections were at 2% levels through October and November. In White Plains we had highly responsive parents, teachers, administrators and staff, we still wound up with 25% of our 7,900 plus students, administrators, staff and teachers getting covid.

The attitude that covid is just something we have to live with is permeating our leadership today. They don’t to make you unhappy going to the polls.

People get less sick with covid. They are not getting hospitalized as frequently. That’s good. You can thank the vaccines for that.

But I have heard of more people I know getting covid in the last month than I have encountered than during the whole epidemic.

I am going to get my booster Friday.

As Bob Dylan wrote, “Trust yourself.”

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From WVOX 1460 RADIO. September 27, 2022:

Westchester County Executive broadcasting on WVOX Radio in his weekly broadcast (7:10 A.M. Tuesdays) this morning announced he had protested New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ decision to house Texas refugees in tents at Orchard Beach in the Bronx.

The refugees bused to New York from Texas last week in a series of 5 heated and climate-controlled tent structures in the parking lot at Orchard Beach in the Bronx where they will be given food, medical attention and legal support.

Latimer said that residents of New Rochelle (one of whom called in to protest the refugee facility presence so close to her New Rochelle neighborhood just before he took the air) and the city of New Rochelle had expressed dismay over the decision. Latimer said he had formally protested the establishment of the tent shelters to Mayor Adams’ office.

Mayor Adams who is in Puerto Rico in concern for the recent hurricane that hit that island, announced last week the effort was to house some of the  13,000 asylum seekers have entered the New York City shelter system and created overcrowding in the city shelters.

Mr. Latimer said on the air Westchester had no control over what Mayor Adams decided to do within the New York City limits. He expressed concern that establishing the tent structures there was a matter of interest due to proximity to Westchester neighboring communities. He did not say what his personal concerns were.

On other issues, Mr. Latimer said Westchester residents were very concerned about the economy, crime (which he blamed on current media emphasis on crime incidents)  and affordable housing (Editor’s note: costs of rents, mortgages–6% are going up).

On covid, Mr. Latimer said the disease was down from 2,000 active cases and was no longer making persons who get it as sick as they did in the past, usually only suffering for about 2 days. He said it was going to be a disease people will have to expect to be a problem going forward they will have to live with.

Mr. Latimer’s weekly “State of the County”report is heard on the Dennis and Tonny Good Morning Westchester program ON WVOX 1460 AM  from 7:10 to 7:30 A.M. and worldwide on WVOX.com