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Watch how Westchester Covid Cases have in 3 months climbed ominously back to the 1,000 infections a day rate in March and April 2020.
WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. January 2, 2020 UPDATED JANUARY 3, 12 NOON EST:
Westchester County daily new positive infections numbered 1,013 on New Year’s Day.
This figure approaches the 1,100 positive cases of April 9 within 200 cases of the highest level of infections reached March 25, 2020 of the horrifying sweep of the first surge of the disease.
The hightest number of positive covid cases in Westchester County all of 2020 was 1,300 on March 25 2020 just after New York State shut down.
https://youtu.be/-nNcKNq9nbQ
DAY BY DAY FROM CHRISTMAS THROUGH NEW YEARS DAY, THE POSITIVES KEPT ON RISING MORE THAN DOUBLING IN A WEEK CLICK THE ARROW TO FOLLOW THE COVID SECOND WAVE
With the positives going up inexorably the month of December, and the evidence of higher infections within the possible infection period, with the New Years week of gatherings across the county still not over, the infections may continue at this higher rate for another two weeks.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, speaking on Meet the Press said today January 3: “Rather than sit back and throw up our hands and say, ‘oh my goodness, it’s getting worse,’ we need to double down on some of the fundamental things that we talk about all the time — the uniform wearing of masks, the physical distancing and the avoiding of congregate settings and crowds, particularly indoors”
The total number of active cases in Westchester County as of Friday is 9,208, with 870 of those new cases new according to the Westchester County Dashboard today. It should be noted that those cases are not necessarily those that were discovered to be infected yesterday.
WPCNR GEORGIA RUNOFF REPORTER. By Stephen Rolandi January 2, 2020:
(Editor’s Note: Following Mr. Rolandi’s analysis of the Georgia runoff primary, this morning I asked him how President Biden can possibly work with a 51-49 Republican majority in the next congress. Mr. Rolandi replies:)
“While it would be a lot easier for President-elect Biden to have an outright majority in the Senate to get nominations, bills, etc. approved, he will still be able to get parts of his agenda passed.
I say this as he has a long standing personal relationship with Senator Leader Mitch McConnell – Biden was elected to the Senate in 1972, McConnell in 1984.
Also, there is now a working group of moderate Senators from both parties — Romney (R-Utah); Collins (R-Maine); Murkowski (R-Alaska); Manchin (D-West Va.); Mark Kelly (D-AZ); and others (about 12 in all) who will be able to get bills passed.
It will be harder for Biden, but not impossible.”
Stephen Rolandi analyzed the Presidential Election for WPCNR predicting a Joseph Biden victory. Mr. Rolandi’s views of the Georgia Primary runoff Monday published earlier today are solely his own opinions and do not reflect the views of his employers, Pace University and City University of New York.
WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. By Paul Feiner Greenburgh Town Supervsor. January 2, 2021:
SUGGESTION–NYS SHOULD OFFER RETIRED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS WHO ASSIST IN ADMINISTERING COVID VACCINES THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET EARLIER VACCINATIONS FOR THEM AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES would help NYS vaccinate more people quickly New York Should Vaccinate Retired Medical Professionals Who Volunteer to Assist in Administering Covid Vaccines
News reports that New York State has administered less than one-third of the Covid vaccines provided to the State by the Federal government.
The program for the procurement, distribution, prioritization, and delivery of a Covid-19 vaccine, including the logistics of how the doses will be stored and administered, is complex. This is run by each State.
To help alleviate the roadblock in New York, I suggest vaccinating recently retired doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians and their immediate families who volunteer to assist in the State-run vaccine program. They would be able to then vaccinate other New Yorkers under the State’s program, and perhaps also free up doctors, nurses and EMTs from those duties. Britain has instituted enlisting the assistance of recently retired medical professionals, and I think the Governor should consider implementing that in New York. I will reach out to state officials with this suggestion.
STEPHEN ROLANDI ON PEOPLE TO BE HEARD ELECTION ANALYST ON WHITE PLAINS TELEVISION People to Be Heardin November
WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2021By Stephen Rolandi January 2, 2020:
Stephen Rolandi analyzed the Presidential Election for WPCNR predicting a Joseph Biden victory. Mr. Rolandi’s views of the Georgia Primary runoff Monday are solely his own opinions and do not reflect the views of his employers, Pace University and City University of New York.
Georgia will hold run-off elections on Tuesday,
January 5, 2021 to determine not only who will represent Georgia in the next
session of the United States Senate – but also which party will control the Senate. The run-off elections are required as
no candidate secured the required 50% majority in November. The candidates are:
REGULAR 6
YEAR TERM:
David Perdue* (R) Jon Ossoff (D)
SPECIAL 2
YEAR TERM:
Kelly Loeffler** (R) Raphael Warnock (D)
Here’s how I see these races:
For many
years, Georgia was a very reliable “red” state. Since 2012, the Republican
party’s statewide margins have been declining – Mitt Romney received 53% of
Georgia’s vote in 2012; Donald Trump 51% in 2016; and Joe Biden (D) narrowly
defeated Trump by 12,000 votes (49.5% to
49.2%);
Similarly,
in the Governor’s races, the GOP margins have been declining – the GOP won
nearly 53% in 2014; Brian Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams by 55,000 votes in 2018
(50.2% to 48.8%);
Turnout has
been steadily rising statewide – 2.6 million in the 2014 Governor’s race; 4.1
million in the 2016 Presidential race; about the same in 2018; and 5 million in
2020 (Presidential);
I expect
turnout to exceed the 5 million; indeed, as of December 31st, over 3 million early votes have already been
cast; approximately 79,000 new voters – mostly African- American – registered
to vote since November 3rd.
President
Trump’s largely baseless claims about a fraudulent election in Georgia have
undermined GOP efforts there.
If a “stand
alone” stimulus bill is not passed by Congress, this is likely to hurt the GOP,
although Perdue and Loeffler have come out for the bill.
– 2-
So, here’s my call:
– WARNOCK (D) wins 51.5%; Loeffler 48.5%
– PERDUE (R) wins 50.3% to Ossoff’s 49.7%
Perdue will run well in Northern Georgia to offset
Ossoff’s strength in the metro Atlanta area. Some see Sen. Perdue as more
moderate than Trump. Warnick should benefit from a heavy African-American vote.
I expect a re-count, particularly in the Perdue-Ossoff race.
GOP will retain its majority in the Senate (51-49).
Mitch McConnell remains as Majority Leader. Charles Schumer remains as Minority
Leader , both for 2021-23.
WPCNR GOVERNOR CUOMO COVID REPORT.From Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. December 31, 2020:
Total hospitalizations rose to 7,892. Of the 154,949 tests reported yesterday, 13,422, or 8.66 percent, were positive. There were 1,250 patients in ICU yesterday, up 26 from the previous day. Of them, 702 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 144 New Yorkers to the virus.
As the year draws to a close, the vaccination distribution program continues to ramp up with more priority groups added as supply becomes available. As the vaccination process continues to build in the weeks ahead, know that you can look to this newsletter as an accurate in-depth source for information and updates.
While the vaccine distribution gets underway, New Yorkers cannot get lax about COVID by any means.
Hospitalizations continue to rise across the state and there is one message New Yorkers must remember as we approach the close of the holiday season—celebrating smart stops shutdowns.
If we stay smart, stay tough and take the steps we know help halt the spread, we will get through this.
PENN STATION MAKE OVER OPENS NEW YEAR’S DAY
Photo of the Day: We announce the opening of the new Moynihan Train Hall in New York City, which opens to the public Friday, January 1st. I thank all our partners who helped get this major infrastructure across the finish line on time and on budget, despite the pandemic (Photo courtesy SOM).
VACCINATION PROGRESS, NEXT PRIORITIES
Approximately 203,000 New Yorkers to date have received one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Next week, New York State will open vaccination criteria to ambulatory care health workers and public-facing public health workers, including those administering COVID-19 tests.
The Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop will be held virtually. This year, Times Square will be closed and there will be no crowds allowed in the area during the ball drop but the celebration to ring in the new year still goes on. The ball drop will be livestreamed online along with TV programming.
New York continues to monitor for the presence of the more contagious U.K. strain of COVID-19. The State Department of Health and private labs across the State have been analyzing genomic sequencing of COVID specimens since early spring, with more than 4,300 specimens sequences. We have yet to find the U.K. strain, but we are continuing to search.
Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: The mother of a Long Island teenager with special needs was able to pull off a Christmas miracle thanks to a total stranger. After searching without success for the gift her son wanted most—a sold-out Xbox—Jill Biblow turned to Facebook to ask if anyone she knew might be able to help her get one in time for Christmas. Hundreds of miles away, South Florida resident Kevin Danilo heard about the request from a friend, and sent Biblow a brand-new Xbox as a gift. His sole request was to pay the generosity forward. During this challenging year, it’s “the small things showing that people care about us [that give] us the strength to dust ourselves off and keep going,” he wrote to Biblow.
