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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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

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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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WPCNR SUNDAY GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO BRIEFING REPORT. By John F. Bailey. April 19, 2020:

“ We are past the high point, we are now on the descent. The maximum inflo (of new corona virus hospitalizations) is less than what it is. The net intubations is down,” was the good news Governor Andrew M. Cuomo reported to day in Manhasset, Long Island where he was visiting the Northwell Health complex in Nassau County to give his daily report on the coronavirus battle.

“But this, (he pointed to the new hospitalizations rate) is a reality check, 1,300 people yesterday tested positive. A lot of people, but less than the overall curve of new cases (2,000 a day average previously). 507 persons died yesterday. 400 persons with the disease were put on intubations (ventilators).”

He congratulated health care workers across the state, and the 85,000 medical personnel who have volunteered to aid New York health care professionsals to care for the thousands with coronavirus.

He saluted the vital forces: police, fire, transit workers, EMS professionals who came to work to serve and help in a massive effort to help the sick, all risking their lives by going to the diseased and the suffering. The governor said he would be forever grateful for their sacrifice and courage and dedication to public service, most of whom are immigrants.

The Governor announced the New York State-developed antibody test for coronavirus antibodies presence in persons has been approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

He said beginning tomorrow New York Labs across the state would begin random testing across New York State to determine the possible scope of coronavirus spread in the population they will administer the anti-body test to  at random.

In the “Q. & A” the governor said the goal of antibody testing statewide was to random-AB test 2,000 NY state persons a day, 14,000 a week to reach 500,000 in a month, 1.5 Million in 3 months and “hope to increase that number to a random sampling of the population (6%).

“This (percentage of who had coronavirus) will give us the first effective number of how many already have had the corona virus,” the governor said.

He said the state has 9 million workers in a 19 Million population, and the percentage of anti-body positives would show the state an idea of how many persons could be carrying the virus producing anti bodies but not hospitalized to ascertain the risk of reopening.

The Governor did not explain what percentage might be considered positive to reopen the state, or too high to risk a reopen, because the antibody test has not been done before.

He called on representatives in the state not to play politics. He called on the federal government to in the next recovery bill (that congress in Washington is working on) to include $500 Billion in funding for state governments, so the states can fund what they fund in states.

In New York, Mr. Cuomo said if the government did not deliver adequate compensation to NY, or none, he would have to cut 50% of state education aid in New York and cut Hospital aid, which he said “how ludicrous that would be” in view of the health workers’ “tremendous” medical achievement in turning back the march of the coronavirus better than any official prognosticators said they could.

He praised President Trump’s tweet statement that “the federal government is with you(the states) all the way”.  

“That’s teamwork,” Governor Cuomo said.

The Governor also said he had a discussion with the head of the CDC Center for Desease Control who assured him the need for reagents for every state and (presumably for NY’s 301 lab companies) was being addressed.

Governor Cuomo also praised President Trump’s briefing last night on the state of increasing testing, and what the federal government was doing.

He said that now is only halftime. The residents of the NY cannot think it is over, because, he said “the beast is not dead. It is still out there ready to send the hospitalization rate up again.”

He said he got that people were having problems with cabin fever. He encouraged politicians not to politicize the issue based on the complaints of their constiutents.

He suggested, “Blame me.”

The news conference “Q. & A.” protocol is in its third day of Cuomo Conference Rules. They are not allowed to shout questions all at once after every Cuomo answer. The Governor picks each reporter in turn who asks a question. This has stripped away the raucous pandomonium of every time reporter trying to yell louder than anyone else. It is a lesson in how news conferences should be conducted. It eliminates the groaning, shouting of the press remuda so you can hear the question since no reporter is miked. It is Cuomo calming.

The Governor confirmed 6,054 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 242,786 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 242,786 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows (Metro areas of interest are in BOLDFACE:

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	682	34
Allegany	30	0
Broome	192	6
Cattaraugus	34	0
Cayuga	36	0
Chautauqua	25	0
Chemung	73	1
Chenango	78	1
Clinton	49	1
Columbia	107	2
Cortland	25	0
Delaware	49	0
Dutchess	2,240	39
Erie	2,070	73
Essex	18	2
Franklin	13	0
Fulton	27	0
Genesee	117	30
Greene	85	3
Hamilton	3	0
Herkimer	49	2
Jefferson	54	4
Lewis	8	0
Livingston	39	2
Madison	106	1
Monroe	1,032	24
Montgomery	35	1
Nassau	30,013	833
Niagara	246	12
NYC	134,436	3,173
Oneida	275	7
Onondaga	498	6
Ontario	70	1
Orange	6,379	113
Orleans	46	5
Oswego	47	2
Otsego	48	1
Putnam	592	10
Rensselaer	173	9
Rockland	9,364	193
Saratoga	251	7
Schenectady	268	9
Schoharie	20	0
Schuyler	6	0
Seneca	18	0
St. Lawrence	105	7
Steuben	167	7
Suffolk	26,888	745
Sullivan	537	13
Tioga	35	3
Tompkins	117	0
Ulster	854	34
Warren	96	2
Washington	63	11
Wayne	50	1
Westchester	23,803	624
Wyoming	36	0
Yates	9	0

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WPCNR CORONAVIRUS GOVERNOR CUOMO BRIEFING REPORT By John F. Bailey. April 18, 2020 UPDATED WITH VIDEO 3 PM:

The Federal Government controls whether New York State can double ability to test for coronavirus infections to control the pandemic effectively after New York “reopens.” This deserves to be repeated:

The Federal Government controls whether New York State can double its state labs capacity to test for coronavirus infections to control the pandemic with success after New York reopens.

The reagents “react” when exposed to the coronavirus testing samples showing the person is Covid-19 positive or negative.

These essential reagents are needed in greater supply to ramp up testing to the 2,000,000 tests a day level (the scale Governor Cuomo believes is needed for testing persons to assure a successful reopening is not compromised by infected persons coming back into work without knowing they have the virus.

The distribution of those essentials to analyze the tests and what companies get them is controlled by the federal government in Washington. (The Governor has consistently maintained that without aggressive greatly escalated testing, any reopening could quickly send COVID-19 new infections exploding again.)

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in his briefing today reported he had his staff call 50 companies that conduct analysis of coronavirus testing samples in New York State to find out how how they could analyze a volume of 2 million test samples a day.

In written quotes posted on televison today (See video above), the Lab companies shown contacted all wrote they needed an extreme increase in supply of the reactants required to analyze the tests at a 2,000,000 a day level.

The conclusion implied : if the federal government holds back the reagents or does not assure a supply enough to a state, any reopening could fail and create a whole city in coronavirus lockdown, facemasked and social distancing again very quickly.

Previously the Governor had touched on the supply needs of increased testing referring to swabs, antibody testing, fingerprick blood tests, and needs for reagents. The state staff explored with the 301 labs in New York State and found that reagent supply is controlled by the federal government, which controls where they go from the manufacturers, what states get them.

The Governor speaking with one of his daughters recently asked him what is all about this testing (not a direct quote). The governor realized he needed to make the need for testing clearer, why it had to ramp up substanially in reopening, and what had to be done to ramp it up and what was the problem.

His staff found out by asking. Previously the governor had mentioned that the reagents come from China. Today he shared what the labs told them: the federal government rations the reagents out.

No reporter in the news conference asked the Governor whether the federal government has an adequate supply of reagents in a stock pile; whether the reagents could be knocked off generically by pharmaceutical companies, to ease the supply or whether the federal government would direct the reagents they have to the states that request them or hold them back and why. Yesterday Governor Cuomo said the President did not want to do more testing because it was hard to do.

The Governor said the Apex of the curve continued to flatten and the new case rate remained steady. He is concerned and so explained the fact nobody knew until today: the federal government controls the supply of the reactant chemicals needed to identify and isolate population that don’t know they have the virus and are returning to work.

The deaths Friday from Covid-19 numbered 540. The Hospitalization rate was down. The intubation rate (converting patients to ventilators) continued to go down.

In the news conference, the governor turned aside a question asking if the governor felt nursing homes were negligent in their care, resulting in the deaths of so many nursing home residents. The governor said no, that he felt the nursing homes were just “overwhelmed. Staff are getting sick. Residents are dying,” the governor explained about lagging nursing home reports and failure to respond. He said when complaints are made about nursing homes not providing information to relatives of a person in their care, the state calls the home.

The Governor did say that persons could get marriage licenses and tests online and could get married by video ceremony.

Asked about prisoners being released from prision terms, Melissa DeRosa Secretary to the Governor, said only prisoners with 90 days of their sentences remaining were being released to avoid exposure to Covid-19. The release affects 200 inmates

The Governor confirmed 7,090 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 236,732 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 236,732 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows (surrounding counties in bold face)::

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	648	29
Allegany	30	1
Broome	186	8
Cattaraugus	34	0
Cayuga	36	0
Chautauqua	25	0
Chemung	72	1
Chenango	77	1
Clinton	48	1
Columbia	105	4
Cortland	25	0
Delaware	49	1
Dutchess	2,201	59
Erie	1,997	68
Essex	16	1
Franklin	13	0
Fulton	27	0
Genesee	87	4
Greene	82	5
Hamilton	3	0
Herkimer	47	1
Jefferson	50	0
Lewis	8	0
Livingston	37	3
Madison	105	0
Monroe	1,008	33
Montgomery	34	1
Nassau	29,180	641
Niagara	234	7
NYC	131,263	3,911
Oneida	268	7
Onondaga	492	9
Ontario	69	2
Orange	6,266	182
Orleans	41	7
Oswego	45	0
Otsego	47	3
Putnam	582	4
Rensselaer	164	14
Rockland	9,171	184
Saratoga	244	8
Schenectady	259	9
Schoharie	20	0
Schuyler	6	0
Seneca	18	0
St. Lawrence	98	2
Steuben	160	6
Suffolk	26,143	1,108
Sullivan	524	19
Tioga	32	2
Tompkins	117	0
Ulster	820	32
Warren	94	3
Washington	52	4
Wayne	49	0
Westchester	23,179	703
Wyoming	36	1
Yates	9	1

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