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 MONDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO UPDATE. By John F. Bailey. May 4, 2020: UPDATED WITH LATEST CORONAVIRUS CASES BY COUNTY, 7:15 PM EDT:

With the New York State New Hospitalizations Rate descending by 200 persons in two days to 700 Sunday, Governor Cuomo announced May 15 when the New York Pause (now in effect) expires, after that date New York Regions could reopen provided the had opening plans that met 10 State Required conditions.

If there is a reversal in coronavirus decline, and numbers go up but average down over a three-day moving average, it looks like the state should not have trouble meeting the 14-day of downward trend required by the Center for Contagious Diseases. The governor went into specifics behind the CCD standard for reopening.

In a news release just in from the Governor’s Office at 3:20 P.M., the CCD standards were summarized with their unique new details:

• New Infections: Based on guidelines from the CDC, regions must have at least 14 days of decline in total net hospitalizations and deaths on a 3-day rolling average. In regions with few COVID cases, the region cannot exceed 15 net new total hospitalizations or 5 new deaths on a 3-day rolling average. In order to monitor the potential spread of infection in a region, a region must have fewer than two new COVID patients admitted per 100,000 residents per day.
• Health Care Capacity: Every region must have the health care capacity to handle a potential surge in cases. Regions must have at least 30 percent total hospital and ICU beds available. This is coupled with the new requirement that hospitals have at least 90 days of personal protective equipment stockpiled.
• Diagnostic Testing Capacity: Each region must have the capacity to conduct 30 diagnostic tests for every 1,000 residents per month. The state is rapidly expanding capacity statewide to help all regions meet this threshold.
• Contact Tracing Capacity: Regions must have a baseline of 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 residents, and additional tracers based on the projected number of cases in the region. The state is currently building an army of contact tracers with Mayor Bloomberg to meet the needs of each region statewide.“

Governor Cuomo outlined the specifics of which businesses would open first, and laid out the 10 standards regions had to have businesses and organizations to comply with before opening any region.

He noted there were two weeks to May 15, for regions to get their plans to reopen to the standards to be considered for reopening.

The Governor warned that any region reopening that exceeded the 1.1 Outbreak Indicator (1 person positive infect 1.1 persons with the coronavirus) would have to shutdown the reopening and go back to a Pause.

He emphasized during the “Q. & A.” with reporters that wearing a mask was compulsory because the state is in a State of Emergency and that towns, cities and counties should enforce no-maskers with sanctions and penalties.

Finally, the Governor confirmed 2,538 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 318,953 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 318,953 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:(WITH WESTCHESTER, NYC, PUTNAM, DUTCHESS, ULSTER, NASSAU, SUFFOLK NUMBERS IN BOLD FACE:

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	1,287	29
Allegany	35	0
Broome	334	7
Cattaraugus	53	0
Cayuga	51	0
Chautauqua	37	1
Chemung	126	1
Chenango	100	1
Clinton	68	2
Columbia	213	4
Cortland	28	0
Delaware	62	1
Dutchess	3,131	45
Erie	3,802	92
Essex	29	0
Franklin	16	1
Fulton	84	2
Genesee	159	4
Greene	154	3
Hamilton	3	0
Herkimer	63	1
Jefferson	63	1
Lewis	9	0
Livingston	85	2
Madison	217	66
Monroe	1595	29
Montgomery	56	0
Nassau	36,965	185
Niagara	493	19
NYC	175,651	1,320
Oneida	550	61
Onondaga	971	19
Ontario	96	1
Orange	9,015	48
Orleans	97	0
Oswego	67	1
Otsego	67	0
Putnam	1,026	13
Rensselaer	337	15
Rockland	12,095	70
Saratoga	367	4
Schenectady	535	8
Schoharie	45	0
Schuyler	7	0
Seneca	45	0
St. Lawrence	178	1
Steuben	219	1
Suffolk	35,077	222
Sullivan	976	25
Tioga	90	0
Tompkins	129	0
Ulster	1,354	13
Warren	192	4
Washington	188	2
Wayne	76	1
Westchester	30,097	213
Wyoming	69	0
Yates	19	0

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WPCNR SUNDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEF. From the Governor’s Office. May 3, 2020:

Regional Supply Chains Will Help Realize Better Pricing, Delivery and Reliability of PPE and Medical Equipment for States. AGGREGATEE SUPPLYIES BY 7 STATE NEEDS

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Delaware Governor John Carney, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker today announced a joint multi-state agreement to develop a regional supply chain for personal protective equipment, other medical equipment and testing.

While the states will continue to partner with the federal government during this global and national public health crisis, they will also work together to identify the entire region’s needs for these products, aggregate demand among the states, reduce costs and stabilize the supply chain.

The states will also coordinate policies regarding the inventory of PPE each state’s health care infrastructure should have to be prepared for a possible second wave of COVID-19. The states will also coordinate policies on what supplies local governments should have on hand for their First Responders, and if any requirements regarding PPE for the non-for-profit and private sector are needed.

The states will then seek to identify suppliers within the country, region or state who can scale to meet the demand of the entire region over the next three months. The goal of this approach is to decrease the potential for disruptions in the supply chain for PPE and medical equipment, including sanitizer and ventilators, and testing, and promote regional economic development.

In addition, the states are discussing how to collectively explore emerging technologies on an ongoing basis to take advantage of the potential associated with alternative methods of production for existing products and innovation that would lead to more effective and/or less expensive alternatives. For example, 3D Printers may represent an attractive alternative to manufacturing certain personal protective equipment and medical products.

“The COVID-19 pandemic created a mad scramble for medical equipment across the entire nation – there was competition among states, private entities and the federal government and we were driving up the prices of these critical resources,” Governor Cuomo said. “As a state and as a nation we can’t go through that again. We’re going to form a regional state purchasing consortium with our seven northeast partner states to increase our market power when we’re buying supplies and help us actually get the equipment at a better price. I want to thank our neighboring states for their ongoing support, generosity and regional coordination on these important efforts.”

Governor Murphy said, “Our states should never be in a position where we are actively competing against each other for life-saving resources. By working together across the region, we can obtain critical supplies as we begin the process to restart our economies, while also saving money for our taxpayers. This concept is at the heart of the regional approach we’ve established.”

Governor Lamont said, “With global supply chains continuing to experience a major disruption due to the pandemic, combining the efforts of our states into a regional purchasing initiative will help our states obtain needed PPE and other medical equipment without competing against each other. I’ve long been advocating for the federal government to get involved because pitting all 50 states against each other to compete for these supplies has never made any sense. Partnering with our neighbors helps make our purchasing power stronger and more dependable.”

Governor Wolf said, “By working together we can combine our strengths to build the capacities we all need. We can exploit our market size to encourage producers to make what we need, we can exploit our financial strength to give that encouragement added weight, and we can exploit the great research institutions and the brainpower in our region to increase our chances of success. I look forward to working with my fellow governors—and my neighbors-to build a strong regional supply chain.”

Governor Carney said, “We need a consistent approach for moving our states out of this crisis, and that includes ensuring a sufficient supply of PPE and tests. I’m thankful for this coordination with my fellow Governors in the region. We’ll be better positioned to continue tackling this crisis working together with the states around us.”

Governor Raimondo said, “Our healthcare workers should never have to worry if we have enough PPE to keep them safe. Over the past two months, we’ve been scouring the earth for supplies and have worked hard to meet the demand on the frontlines. We know that, in order to safely reopen the economy, we need a long-term supply of PPE for all critical infrastructure workers. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with states across the region in order to build and maintain a steady, reliable and affordable supply of PPE.”

Governor Baker said, “Massachusetts looks forward to working with other states to identify more options for PPE procurements for our health care workers and public safety personnel.”

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor’s Press Office. (Edit in BOLD FACE) 6 PM EDT May 1, 2020:

The White Plains City School District and every School District Budget in the state, will now for the first time in memory not depend on turnout at the polls. Every voter will get a ballot to send in.

In an effort to keep New Yorkers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today issued an executive order delaying school board elections and budget votes statewide until June 9, 2020.

The school board elections and budget votes will all be conducted by mail and all qualified voters will be sent an absentee ballot with return postage paid. The Executive Order also delays local special district and village elections until September 15, 2020.

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WPCNR FRIDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONOVA VIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey May 1, 2020:

Governor Andrew Cuomo closed New York Schools, colleges, private schools, public schools through the rest of this academic year through June, today.

He said the time available for schools to reorganize their facilities to comply with social distancing in May and June effectively and keep children safe  was “a physical impossibility.”

“We are going to be asking businesses to come up with plans that safeguard workers when they reopen. We need schools to come up with plans also that bring those precautions into the schoolroom. That is also for colleges, and the state will approve those plans,” the Governor said.

A decision on whether summer school would be conducted in schools would be made in a month. If in-person attendance at Summer School was considered not possible to maintain social distancing, summer school would be conducted using “distant learning” at home.

The governor directed schools and school districts and colleges to draft reopening plans for the fall with a specific list of components which will have to be approved by the  state.

The Governor expressed concern about the Hospitalization Rate which he said continued to bounce between 900 new hospitalizations a week and 950. He said it was important to learn more about who was being hospitalized, where they were from, their work, whether they were essential workers, in an effort to  find a common denominator that would account for the steady hospitalization rate so this sector could be dealt with more effectively,

The Hospitalization Rate, according to the Center for Contagious Deceases, must have gone down for 14 consecutive days, before a state can reopen an area.

The governor announced alarming rates of increase in mental health problems. Half of all Americans say they have seen their health deteriorate. Three quarters of Americans say their sleep has been affected.

Domestic violence was up 15% in March and 30% in April. The state has set up a domestic violence hotline. 844-997-2121. 

Frontline workers, the Governor feels, can be particularly affected by stress issues related to the pressures of their jobs. To help them acquire the mental health advice they need, the governor has directed all insurance deductibles and copays to suspend those payments for frontline workers.

The governor said to text NYFRONTLINE at 741-741 for frontline workers needing help dealing with mental issues.

In the news Q & A.,discrepancies in how many have died from nursing homes from covid was raised, again. Dr. Zucker, Director of the New York State Department of Health said nursing homes were undergoing a protocol to investigate whether or not the nursing homes had overstated the number of deaths from COVID. He said if the home (s) had been found to have deliberately overstated, they could be sued for fraud. The investigation is ongoing.

No questions were asked during a cacaphonous news conference that sounded like “The Front Page.”

Reporters ignored previous news conference behaviors requested by the Governor out the window.

No questions were asked about when the tracing program  system (discussed by Michael Bloomberg yesterday) would be ready for deployment in the field.

No questions were asked whether the schools remaining closed would affect  NY Reopening or delay it to August. However that is still fourteen consecutive weeks of declining hospitalization rate away at earliest, before the state can reopen.

Governor Cuomo was asked by a reporter who shall rename nameless, “Considering the 300,000 infections and 18, 610 deaths, how do you rate your performance?”

The Governor replied “I tried my best.”

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WPCNR THURSDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING. By John F. Bailey. April 30, 2020 UPDATED 4:45 PM EDT:

The race to create the New York Tracing System to identify in  real time, any rise in coronavirus infections after any reopening occurs is on.

The Subways will be disinfected every night–beginning next week from 1 A.M. to 5 A.M. to protect essential works in a plan, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced this afternoon.

Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced Mike Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York, in a conference today, who explained the details of the tracing program Mr. Bloomberg is creating with his philanthropic organization, and Johns Hopkins Hospital, one week after the Governor named him to create the tracing program.

Mr. Bloomberg SAID in his telephone call  that tracer prospects would be drawn from medical students in New York State and health professionals. The training will be done online. Mr. Bloomberg announced reporting by tracers would be done in real time, reporting contacts with persons identified as testing positive interviewing the new cases for possible persons they may have interacted with previously to their being diagnosed. The tracer will then contact the possible contacts and quarantine them for 15 days, checking in with the contactees for symptoms.

The tracers would track down possible infectees  the positive person may have seen and send those names back to a central system via a second ap. The persons contacted by the infected individual with the coronavirus, would have an  app to impart any symptoms to the centralized system. There would be three apps created.

Governor Cuomo noted that yesterday 4,681 new positives Wednesday, to note how large a scale the tracing system had to be prepared for every day after any reopenings. Mr. Bloomberg said the system, and its manual, training materials would be available to Mayors across the country to help them use the tracing system and also made available to the world.

In an release just in from the Governor’s Press Office, the tracing system was explained in more detail:

First, labs will report positive cases of COVID-19 immediately to contact tracers on a daily basis.

The contact tracer will then interview the positive patient to identify people they may have been in contact with over the past 14 days.

The contact tracer will notify and interview each contact to alert them to their risk of infection and instruct those contacts to quarantine or isolate for 14 days to be sure they don’t spread COVID-19 to others. 

The contact tracers will monitor those contacts by text throughout the duration of their quarantine or isolation to see if the contacts are showing any symptoms.

The program is expected to have 6,400 to 17,000 tracers statewide depending on the projected number of cases. Contact tracing teams will work remotely with state-of-the-art software to develop a secure database of information on the spread of the infection.

To meet the nation-leading scale and scope of this program, Mayor Bloomberg and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will support the State Department of Health’s initiative to build an army of contact tracers through a three-step process: recruitment, interviewing and training. Bloomberg Philanthropies will help DOH to actively identify and recruit potential contact tracers for the program from State, City and County Health Departments.

There was no information as to when the tracing system would be ready for any possible New York re-opening or how it would be tested. Mayor William DeBlasio of New York City said New York would provide 1,000 health and employees as tracers to start.

The Governor announced a plan had been submitted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for cleaning all subway cars every day. The plan is beginning in a week, (not tonight ) subways would be closed between 1 AM and 5 A.M. (when 10,000 people ride the trains, the governor said). Transportation for  Essential Workers would be provided by the MTA free, using buses, free vans, or Uber and Lyft cars. Meanwhile the subway cars would have every surface cleaned. Police would supervise each closed station for security.

Mayor DeBlasio said arrangements through outreach to the homeless have been made in order that the problem of vast numbers of homeless sleeping on the subway would be eliminated. The condition of sleeping on the subways was dramatized by front page photos in The Daily News last weekend.

Corona virus statistical indicators resumed declines across the board yesterday, including the Hospitalization Rate.