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 DOUBLEDEMIC surveillance. From NYS COVID TRACKER & NEW YORK DOH NYC MONKEYPOX TRACKER. Observation & Analysis by John F. Bailey August 27, 2022:

Through Thursday Westchester is on a pace which may bring Westchester’s weekly new covid cases below 1,000 new cases since the last week in March. Through Thursday,

Meanwhile, in New York City Monkeypox new infections numbered 2,807 Thursday,, 597 more infections than new covid infections (2,210) Thursday. This is a cause for concern as schools begin in New York in a week.

Total Cases by Demographic Group

This table shows the number of NYC residents who tested positive for orthopoxvirus/monkeypox, by borough, age, gender, race/ethnicity and sexual orientation.

The below data will be updated every Thursday

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oDJWC/1/

Westchester new cases of covid so far since last Saturday through Thursday August 25 were 953, an average of 191 new infections a day. If Friday and Saturday infections dip to 330, from the 381 last Thursday and Friday, Westchester would have under 1,000 new cases for the first time in five months.

In Westchester County, the is still averaging 7% positive for the week on all PCR (LAB TESTS). All 7 Mid-Hudson counties total 552 new cases positive of 7,496 tests, an average of 1,499 Lab verified tests a day, very low but the infections are at a 7% rate. This could mean the real persons getting positive with covid may be 7% of the population across the 2.3 million population of the 7-County Region, as many as 160,500 minus the 552 reported from the lab tests.

The 9 counties including all 7 from the Mid-Hudson region and Nassau and Suffolk County account for 1,281 new cases of covid compared to 2,210 new covid cases reported in New York City.

More concerning is the rapid rise in New York City Monkeypox cases which were 2,807 through August 25 compared to 2,221 new covid cases.

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THIS WEEK EVERY WEEK ON

WHITE PLAINS WEEK TONIGHT:

JAMAALL BOWMAN WALKS WHITE PLAINS ON ELECTION DAY

GEORGE LATIMER ON STATE OF COVID AND MONKEYPOX— LOOKING FOR 8TH STRAIGHT WEEK OF DECLINE IN NEW CASES

KEN JENKINS, DEPUTY COUNTY EXECUTIVE ON NEED TO VACCINATE PRE-SCHOOLERS

ATTORNEY GENERAL JAMES WINS $2 MILLION SETTLEMENT FROM POLLUTING OIL COMPANY THAT INFECTED DRINKING WATER OF STEUBEN AND CATTARAUGUS COUNTIES–IS IT ENOUGH? NO!

ON EDGE: STILL WAITING FOR A NEW FIXED RATE FROM SUSTAINABLE WESTCHESTER AND DREADING THE AUGUST CON ED BILL

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DR. MARK KESTNER

CONCEIVES EFFICIENCY, SERVICE DELIVERY UPGRADES FOR HOSPITALS ACROSS THE NATION. JOHN BAILEY INTERVIEWS HIM ON HOW PATIENTS, DOCTORS, HOSPITALS ARE GEARING UP FOR MONEY-SAVING, PATIENT TIME SAVING, AND EFFICIENT EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF SERVICES AND HOW YOUR HEALTH CARE IS CHANGING OVER THE NEXT DECADE

JOHN BAILEY INTERVIEWS HIM ON

HOW COVID HAS CHANGED THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM THE LAST 3 YEARS

THE COMING DOCTOR SHORTAGE AND SOLUTIONS.

BURNOUT REPLACEMENT

HOW MEDICAL SCHOOLS ARE CHANGING

THE NEED TO CUT COSTS OF INSURANCE, SERVICES TO PREVENT COSTS SOARING OUT OF CONTROL

THE SEARCH FOR THE SOLUTIONS FOR BETTER CARE, LESS COSTLY CARE.

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“With school coming back into session and the summer season coming to a close, I encourage all New Yorkers to keep using the tools we know that work to protect against COVID-19,” Governor Hochul said. “Remember to get vaccinated or boosted when you’re eligible if you haven’t already. Test if you have symptoms, and if you do test positive, talk to your doctor about potential treatment. By remaining vigilant and responsible, New Yorkers will beat this virus.”  

Earlier this week, Governor Hochul announced updated COVID-19 guidance and frequently asked questions for schools and childcare facilities that aligns with the new CDC recommendations.

Among other things, this guidance specifies that asymptomatic children exposed to COVID-19 no longer need to quarantine and that isolation is now only advised for individuals that have tested positive for the virus. Read the updated guidance and frequently asked questions here. 

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:   

• Cases Per 100k – 23.70
• 7-Day Average Cases Per 100k – 22.78
• Test Results Reported – 57,547
• Total Positive – 4,632 
• Percent Positive – 7.86%**
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 6.34%**
• Patient Hospitalization – 2,420 (-39)
• Patients Newly Admitted – 406
• Patients in ICU – 255 (-5)
• Patients in ICU with Intubation – 99 (+0)
• Total Discharges – 334,677 (367)
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 16
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 57,531

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and several other factors, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data — not percent positivity.  

The Health Electronic Response Data System is a NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities only.    

Important Note: Effective Monday, April 4, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is no longer requiring testing facilities that use COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to report negative results. As a result, New York State’s percent positive metric will be computed using only lab-reported PCR results. Positive antigen tests will still be reported to New York State and reporting of new daily cases and cases per 100k will continue to include both PCR and antigen tests. Due to this change and other factors, including changes in testing practices, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data — not percent positivity.  

• Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC – 73,535       

This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings.      

Each region’s 7-day average of cases per 100K population is as follows:  

REGION	Sunday, August 21, 2022	Monday, August 22, 2022	Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Capital Region	18.49	18.42	17.58
Central New York	17.76	17.98	18.27
Finger Lakes	12.12	12.09	12.88
Long Island	26.76	26.75	26.33
Mid-Hudson	21.93	21.59	21.33
Mohawk Valley	20.02	20.22	20.61
New York City	26.32	26.29	25.95
North Country	19.98	19.98	20.22
Southern Tier	17.47	17.85	17.56
Western New York	16.72	17.58	17.87
Statewide	22.95	22.98	22.78

Each region’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows**:      

REGION	Sunday, August 21, 2022	Monday, August 22, 2022	Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Capital Region	9.53%	9.56%	9.32%
Central New York	8.97%	8.94%	9.02%
Finger Lakes	7.26%	7.26%	7.38%
Long Island	8.00%	8.02%	8.02%
Mid-Hudson	4.30%	4.62%	4.58%
Mohawk Valley	11.60%	11.56%	11.59%
New York City	5.32%	5.48%	5.42%
North Country	10.59%	10.40%	10.36%
Southern Tier	8.46%	8.42%	8.38%
Western New York	12.61%	12.89%	12.88%
Statewide	6.18%	6.37%	6.34%

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and several other factors, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data — not percent positivity.  

Each New York City borough’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows **:      

Borough in NYC	Sunday, August 21, 2022	Monday, August 22, 2022	Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Bronx	7.23%	7.31%	7.29%
Kings	3.42%	3.66%	3.58%
New York	5.68%	5.59%	5.58%
Queens	7.78%	7.79%	7.78%
Richmond	7.08%	7.01%	6.74%

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and several other factors, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data — not percent positivity.  

Yesterday, 4,632 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 5,891,946. A geographic breakdown is as follows:

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	70,822	47
Allegany	9,849	7
Broome	52,622	42
Cattaraugus	17,488	23
Cayuga	18,378	12
Chautauqua	26,820	25
Chemung	24,088	25
Chenango	10,610	9
Clinton	20,003	8
Columbia	12,178	15
Cortland	12,028	10
Delaware	9,118	8
Dutchess	75,105	62
Erie	245,750	173
Essex	6,829	8
Franklin	10,859	7
Fulton	14,725	25
Genesee	15,191	4
Greene	9,898	8
Hamilton	990	1
Herkimer	15,915	20
Jefferson	23,573	30
Lewis	6,750	6
Livingston	13,126	10
Madison	15,217	7
Monroe	175,420	132
Montgomery	13,560	12
Nassau	485,033	352
Niagara	54,888	43
NYC	2,744,397	2,171
Oneida	62,420	61
Onondaga	129,874	99
Ontario	23,382	14
Orange	123,532	106
Orleans	9,657	12
Oswego	30,772	40
Otsego	11,945	10
Putnam	27,899	20
Rensselaer	37,710	16
Rockland	106,325	56
Saratoga	55,447	33
Schenectady	39,358	30
Schoharie	5,881	11
Schuyler	3,987	–
Seneca	6,820	7
St. Lawrence	24,057	33
Steuben	22,919	20
Suffolk	500,416	398
Sullivan	21,584	30
Tioga	12,585	15
Tompkins	23,821	34
Ulster	37,928	32
Warren	16,681	10
Washington	14,122	11
Wayne	19,746	16
Westchester	298,641	210
Wyoming	9,241	3
Yates	3,966	3

Below is data that shows how many hospitalized individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 were admitted for COVID-19/COVID-19 complications and how many were admitted for non-COVID-19 conditions:      

Region	COVID-19 Patients currently hospitalized	Admitted due to COVID or complications of COVID	% Admitted due to COVID or complications of COVID	Admitted where COVID was not included as one of the reasons for admission	% Admitted where COVID was not included as one of the reasons for admission
Capital Region	98	55	56.1%	43	43.9%
Central New York	76	41	53.9%	35	46.1%
Finger Lakes	181	53	29.3%	128	70.7%
Long Island	441	194	44.0%	247	56.0%
Mid-Hudson	267	111	41.6%	156	58.4%
Mohawk Valley	38	26	68.4%	12	31.6%
New York City	1,076	445	41.4%	631	58.6%
North Country	54	19	35.2%	35	64.8%
Southern Tier	71	36	50.7%	35	49.3%
Western New York	118	48	40.7%	70	59.3%
Statewide	2,420	1,028	42.5%	1,392	57.5%

The Omicron variant now represents more than 95% of the viruses in circulation. For more information on variant tracking, please visit here: (COVID-19 Variant Data | Department of Health (ny.gov).      

Yesterday, there were 16 total new deaths reported due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 57,531. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

County	New Deaths
Bronx	2
Cattaraugus	1
Clinton	1
Erie	1
Kings	2
Livingston	1
New York	2
Oneida	1
Queens	2
Saratoga	1
Suffolk	1
Ulster	1
Grand Total	16

New Yorkers looking to schedule vaccine appointments for 5-11-year-old children are encouraged to contact their child’s pediatrician, family physician, county health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health centers, or pharmacies that may be administering the vaccine for this age group. Parents and guardians can visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations. Make sure that the provider offers the Pfizer-BioNTechCOVID-19 vaccine, as the other COVID-19 vaccines are not yet authorized for this age group.      

Visit our website for parents and guardians for new information, frequently asked questions and answers, and resources specifically designed for parents and guardians of this age group.      

NOTE: Beginning June 24, 2022, the Vaccine data will be updated weekly on Fridays to align with CDC’s updated data refresh schedule. For additional information on COVID-19 Vaccination Data provided by CDC, see https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-total-admin-rate-total.

Important Note: HERDS data collection from health care facilities was paused due to the weekend from 8/20/2022-8/21/2022. Data from those days were submitted in Monday’s report. Where noted, totals include three days of cumulative data from 8/20/2022-8/22/2022. As a result, some data may appear higher than recent trends. Data affected is marked with an asterisk. 

NOTE: Updates to the CDC’s cumulative death data files are being delayed, as the CDC upgrades its system. Any questions about this should be directed to the CDC. During this time, total deaths and new daily deaths reported through HERDS will continue as normal. 

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WPCNR COUNTY-CLARION LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. August 24, 2022:

Westchester County is leading all counties in New York in using a new American Rescue Plan program to keep our most vulnerable families and individuals from homelessness.

Westchester has helped nearly 200 individuals and families find leases for permanent homes through the federal Emergency Housing Voucher program. That’s more than any other county in the state, including all of New York City. Since the program got underway last November, 195 Westchester households have moved in to permanent housing or are scheduled to move in by September 1.

County Executive George Latimer said: ” When the COVID pandemic hit, we had grave concerns about its impact on people being able to stay in their homes, especially those who are most vulnerable. By staying ahead of the curve and using all available resources to keep people from homelessness, we’re not only preventing human tragedy for those individuals and families, but we’re reducing the social and economic costs of homelessness for everyone in Westchester.”

Westchester’s success is a result of diligent advanced planning by the County’s Department of Social Services and the County’s partner in the program, Westhab. And the County’s proactive response to processing applications has put Westchester in a position to help even more people than anticipated as additional federal application slots become available.

There are currently 76 additional referrals completed on the waitlist just in case more applications become available.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Leonard G. Townes said: “When we got word that this program was being discussed in Congress, we didn’t wait. Even before it was passed we had selected a partner, began developing criteria for those who might qualify, and worked to identify people who could be helped by the program as well as landlords who would be interested in leases. When final approvals came, we were able to hit the ground running. This is a program that focuses on people most at risk of homelessness and in need of safe, stable homes like domestic violence survivors. For them, time is of the essence, and so it was for us as well.”

Latimer said: “In the end, government programs are only as good as our ability to execute on them. I want to thank Commissioner Townes and the staff at DSS and Westhab for their example of proactive leadership in leveraging federal funds to help County residents most in need of help.”

The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program is available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

It focuses on individuals and families who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability.

Participants live in housing of their choice while paying approximately 30 percent of their monthly income on rent. The remaining rent is paid directly to landlords through the voucher program, which protects landlords by ensuring payment of that portion of the rent.