WHITE PLAINS WESTCHESTER DAILY NEWS SERVICE VISITS SINCE 2000 A.D. 25TH YEARl REPORTING THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW News Service Since 2000 A.D. 2026 WILL BE OUR 26TH YEAR OF COVERING WHITE PLAINS NEW YORK USA . John F. Bailey, Editor (914) 997-1607 wpcnr@aol.com Cell: 914-673-4054. News Politics Personalities Neighborhoods Schools Finance Real Estate Commentary Reviews Policy Correspondence Poetry Philosophy Photojournalism Arts. The WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER. TELEVISION: "White Plains Week" News Roundup, 7:30 EDT FRI, 7 EDT MON & the incisive "People to Be Heard" Interview Program 8PM EDT THURS, 7 PM EDT SAT on FIOS CH 45 THROUGHOUT WESTCHESTER AND, ALTICE OPTIMUM WHITE PLAINS CH 1300 Fighting for Truth, Justice and the American Way. TOP 10 VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD :1. USA. 2.BRAZIL3.VIET NAM 4. CHINA 5. JAPAN 6.UK. 7.CANADA. 8.INDIA. 9.AUSTRALIA 10.IRELAND 11.GERMANY 12..ARGENTINA 13.BANGLADESH 14.RUSSIA. 15.NEWZEALAND. 16. FRANCE. 17.MEXICO. 18.UKRAINE. 19.SOUTH AFVRICA. 20. IRAQ.
WPCNR CORONAVIRUS BULLETIN. From a CitizeNetReporter APRIL 4, 2020:
In this morning’s coronavirus news conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced to reporters, Governor Kate Brown of Oregon announced this morning she is sending 140 ventilators to New York State to aid the treatment of 113,000 COVID-19 cases in New York. Ventilators from Oregon are expected to arrive in the beginning of the week.
This morning Governor Brown said “We’ll be sending 140 ventilators to help NY because Oregon is in a better position right now. We must do all that we can to help those on the front lines of this response,”
GOVERNOR CUOMO thanked Governor Brown and pledged to devote New York resources to aid Oregon when it experiences the Coronavirus wave, saying this is the way states should act to help each other in time of crisis.
Governor Cuomo also announced China is sending 1,000 ventilators to New York by Saturday. Manual pdf
Meanwhile COVID-19 cases rose overnight to 113,000, a 10. Manual pdf 7% rate of infection, slightly lower than the 11.2% the state saw yesterday. The breakout daily rate of increase is being driven by the runup of coronavirus diagonoses in Nassau and Suffolk County. Manual pdf
JOHN BAILEY ONSPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS SPREAD FOR THE FRIDAY NUMBERS SEE STORY BELOWCOMFORT ARRIVES. THE HELP GOVERNOR CUOMO ASKED FOR ARRIVES. STATEWIDE CONTROL OF MEDICAL ASSETS MOVES THE ASSETS WHERE THE ACTION IS.STATE BUDGETS AND SCHOOL BUDGETS A MOVABLE FEAST
NEW YORK STATE CORONAVIRUS CONDITIONS FRIDAY 11 AM E.D.T.
WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. By John F. Bailey. April 3, 2020updated 2;30 PM EDT
New York State Positive Cases grew by 11.2% overnight
according to the numbers announced by Governor Cuomo.
In the local metropolitan area Westchester County (population 1 million) cases rose 6.7% overnight to 12,351, up from 11,567 yesterday, but the rate of increase slowed slightly from 8.2% yesterday to 6.7% today.
New York City total of positives is 57,159, up 11.2% over Thursday’s 47,439. Yesterday NYC rose at 8.2%.
Elsewhere, numbers are driving up in Nassau County (with 1.3 Million people) growing by 10.8% Rate overnight at 10,587 cases, up from 9,554 Thursday. Suffolk County with 1.4 Million is growing by a 16% rate at 10,154 cases up from 8,746 Thursday.
Up north of Westchester, Rockland County is getting hit with new cases at a 15.4% rate of increase per day, up from 12.9% in one day Thursday ; Orange is seeing new cases at a 20% rate and Dutchess County, 21%.
RISE IN DOMESTIC ABUSE REPORTED
Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa responding a Q. & A. question in the media segment of this morning’s news conference on sharp rise in domestic abuse throughout state since start of the Stay Home regulations. Says state will find shelter for abused women.
For the hotline number of your local domestic violence program, call the New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline at 1-800-942-6906, English & español/Multi-language Accessibility. Deaf or Hard of Hearing: 711 In NYC: 1-800-621-HOPE (4673) or dial 311 TDD: 1-800-810-7444.
PERSONS STRESSED OVER THE CORONAVIRUS SITUATION INVOLVING HOME, WORRY, UNEMPLOYMENT MAY TALK TO A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSION ON 1-844-863-9314. YOU CALL LEAVE YOUR NUMBER AND A MENTAL PROFESSIONAL WILL CALL YOU BACK. IN WHITE PLAINS, NEED RESPITE FROM A DANGEROUS HOME SITUATION, CALL MY SISTER’S PLACE, 1-800-298-7233GOVERNOR WRAPS UP WITH A STRATEGY TO STAGE MEDICAL RELIEF IN ORGANIZED OPERATION TO COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY
The Governor said he would be getting in touch with the
Secretary of the Navy to find out why the government does not want the USNS
Comfort hospital ship to take in corona virus patients.
The head of the New York State Department of Health explained what masks protect your face properly, but agreed that any face covering such as a bandana could be of help, but supplies of masks were being distributed only to medical personnel.
SCHOOL BOARD BUDGET VOTES ACROSS STATE NOW IN LIMBO
Yesterday the White Plains City School Board announced the website, the state has postponed the statewide school district budget and board elections from May 20 to June or Beyond (the notice was not mentioned in any briefings):
REVISED APRIL 1, 2020, PER EXECUTIVE ORDER 202.11 DATED 3/27/2020:
“Any school board, library board, or village election scheduled to take place in April or May of 2020 is hereby postponed until at least June 1, 2020, and subject to further directive as to the timing, location or manner of voting for such elections.”
WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. From Governor Andrew Cuomo. April 2, 2020. 8:30 P.M.:
Tens of thousands of selfless healthcare workers have answered our urgent call to join New York’s active healthcare force, including 21,000 people who live out of state. It’s inspiring, and I personally promise that when the time comes, New York will repay the favor. We will never forget how the people of our country came to the aid of New York when we needed it, and we deeply appreciate it. Are you a qualified healthcare professional? Enlist here.
The temporary hospital facility at the Javits Center will now treat COVID-19 patients, Governor Andrew announced this evening.
The growing number of Coronavirus cases are threatening the capacity of our hospital system. The original plan for the Javits Center was to use it for non-COVID patients in order to free up beds at other hospitals.
However, the number of COVID patients has increased to the point that it is prudent for Javits to support and care for COVID patients. I asked President Trump this morning to consider this request and stressed the urgent need and he agreed to it.
The state now has over 92,000 cases; there are 884 new cases in Westchester for a current total of 11,567 out of 39,000 people tested in the county.
268 people with confirmed White Plains addresses have tested positive for the virus up from 248 yesterday ( Editor’s note: Increase 8%, below Westchester County rate).
As we have said, the local municipal numbers lag behind the broader county numbers due to the delay in the county receiving the necessary data from the state. Over time the lag has only gotten worse.
Despite this we have determined that we will continue to provide you with the numbers that we receive each day.
When and if the county provided municipal numbers have “caught up” to the overall numbers we will let you know, until then that you should not come to conclusions, positive or negative based on one day’s report.
The crime rate in White Plains has been very low for several years and it is even lower now.
We continue to patrol and enforce our laws and respond to resident complaints. Sanitation is picking up trash on a normal schedule; the streets and garages are being cleaned, building codes and city laws and ordinances continue to be enforced. The city remains at work.
One area of concern is domestic violence.
Although we haven’t seen a spike in these cases, current living conditions may make it difficult for people to seek help.
We want to make it clear that if you or someone you know, is in a dangerous situation you should contact the police, the investigative and victim support services remain in place and we are here to help. No one should live in fear in their home. Alternatively, My Sister’s Place operates a 24 hour hotline- that number is 1-800-298-7233.
Tomorrow at 7 we are paying tribute to all our essential workers with a focus, of course on our medical personnel. Come to your door window balcony or driveway and make some noise to show how much what they are doing matters to us.
Remember we are standing together by staying apart
Helpful links:
Westchester County Coronavirus information
NY State Coronavirus Information
White Plains Hospital Coronavirus Information
If you are experiencing symptoms associated with coronavirus, please call either the White Plains Hospital Hotline at (914) 681-2900 or the NYS Dept of Health Hotline at 1-888-364-3065. Professional staff will screen you over the phone by asking you a series of questions and assess your need for testing
WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Governor’s Press Office. April 2, 2020:
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its unprecedented negative impact on the global economy, the Enacted Budget maintains vital services and programs, while ensuring sustainability to weather this downtown, authorizes a reduction in spending by $10 billion and empowers the State Budget Director to develop a plan for across the board reductions and implement that plan as necessary over the course of the year.
The budget also puts in place mechanisms to control spending through the year if revenues fall even further, and raise spending if either revenues come in higher than expected or the federal government delivers support that offsets the state’s revenue losses.
All funds spending is estimated to total approximately $177 billion and state operating spending is authorized up to $105.8 billion,
However in the absence of additional federal assistance or a faster than anticipated economic recovery, spending will initially total $95.8 billion.
Realigning School Aid
Due to the extraordinary challenges from our COVID-19 health crisis, creating a $10 billion loss in revenue to the State, support for schools will remain nearly flat for a total of $27.9 billion in school aid.
Redesigning Medicaid and Health Care
The FY 2021 Enacted Budget advances reforms to the Medicaid program that will ensure it remains financially viable for the future so it can continue to provide high-quality care to more than six million New Yorkers.
Medicaid spending will increase by 3%, or about $500 million ensuring continuing high-quality care for the 30 percent of New Yorkers who rely on Medicaid for health care. Spending growth is now back in line with targets established by the Governor in 2012 that kept New York State’s Medicaid spending growth to less than half the national average, saving taxpayers more than $19 billion.
Many of these reforms were developed and unanimously endorsed by the Medicaid Redesign Team II, a cross section of health care providers, labor, local government and other industry stakeholders. They were tasked with reforming the system, and their recommendations stuck to the Governor’s guidelines that they must have zero impact on local government and zero impact on beneficiaries.
The reforms included in the FY 2021 Enacted Budget include a transformation of the hospital reimbursement structure to better support services to the uninsured, increases investments in primary care to avoid more costly hospitalizations, and new requirements that enhance oversight of managed care and transportation.
The reforms also address managed long-term care, by far the fastest growing sector of Medicaid. These include aligning New York State’s eligibility requirements with those of other states for new applicants for Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program and Personal Care Services and enhancing reporting requirements for both programs; capping statewide enrollment in managed long-term care to incentivize plans to assist in ensuring appropriate enrollment; and creating a statewide independent assessor to achieve efficiencies by removing duplicative efforts to determining eligibility and enrollment in the managed long-term care program.
GOVERNOR CUOMO DETAILS DEPLOYMENT OF SUPPLIES–AS “APEX” APPROACHESWestchester County went up 884 cases of coronavirus overnight to 11,567. The Governor expressed concern over the percentage of growth in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.GOVERNOR CUOM0 UP-TO-THE MINUTE BRIEFING ON THE CORONAVIRUS FRONT. EXPRESSES OPTIMISM THAT INCUBATIONS ARE LEVELING OFF, CONCERN ABOUT STRESS ON SUPPLIES AND IN THE FOLLOWING TWO CLIPS SAYS HOW THE STATE WILL DEPLOY SUPPLIES AS APPEX OF THE VIRUS APPROACHES. HE FIGURES ANYWHERE FROM 7 TO 30 SAYS, BUT FEELS IT WILL BE MORE LIKE 7 DAYS FROM NOW RATHER THAN LATER. The Governor said “at the present rate of burn, the state has 6 days supply of ventilators,” (for ICU patients), and when they run out ventilators will be moved from upstate hospitals as needed to downstate areas.GOVERNOR CUOMO SITUATION ROOM: GOVERNOR DISCUSSES THE THURSDAY SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS AS OF 12 NOON EDTGovernor Cuomo, preparing for the APEX of the coronavirus , asked companies in the clothing business to call the Empire State Development Corporation, 212-803-3100, if they could manufacture medical supplies. The Governor said the state would pay to retrofit the company machines and pay for the products they manufacture. Time is of the essence.
Wrap-up from the Governor’s Press Office, 4:15 PM. April 2, 2020 (EDITED)
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the State Department of Health has approved Northwell’s protocol allowing BiPAP machines to be converted into ventilators.
The State has purchased 3,000 BiPAP machines from Philips in Pittsburgh, and 750 machines are already in stock and will be distributed to hospitals.
The State has already taken a number of extraordinary measures to acquire more ventilators and build the State’s stockpile, including tracking where all the ventilators are located in New York and shifting their locations to meet the highest need and ending elective surgeries. If necessary, hospitals may also use anesthesia machine ventilators or use a “splitting” protocol where one ventilator is used for two patients using separate tubes.
Governor Cuomo said the State has begun conducting a hospital-by-hospital survey on a nightly basis to take inventory of every hospital’s supplies.
Additionally, all hospitals are being asked to contribute the supplies they don’t currently need to a central stockpile to be distributed to hospitals with the greatest need.
The Governor also announced that 21,000 out-of-state individuals have volunteered to work in New York’s healthcare system on a temporary basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, 85,400 health professionals in New York have signed up to volunteer as part of the State’s surge healthcare force.
The Governor announced that, through June 1, 2020, consumers and businesses experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 may defer paying premiums under individual and small group health insurance policies.
DFS shall consider any liquidity or solvency concerns of the health plans. During this period, health plans will be required to continue to pay claims, not to report late payments to credit rating agencies, and to work with individuals to help them transition to new coverage, i,
f appropriate. In addition, insurers are reminded that they cannot impose late payment fees. Governor Cuomo thanked Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont for his collaboration on this initiative.
The NY State of Health and the New York State Department of Financial Services announced a one-month extension of the special enrollment period through May 15, 2020 to allow uninsured New Yorkers to apply for coverage through NY State of Health or directly to insurers.
If you lost employer coverage, you must apply within 60 days of losing that coverage. Because of a loss of income, New Yorkers may also be eligible for Medicaid, the Essential Plan, subsidized Qualified Health Plans or Child Health Plus.
“We are continuing to plan forward and prepare our healthcare system for when the apex of the curve hits,” Governor Cuomo said. “We are taking extraordinary measures to acquire more personal protective equipment, find beds to increase hospital capacity and recruit staff, but there is still a critical need for all three of these components, and we need all three in order for our hospitals to actually function and provide care.
Finally, the Governor confirmed 8,669 additional cases a 10.3% increase) of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 92,381 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 92,381 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows, local counties in boldface:
In his news conference Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo analyzed the weaknesses of the national health care system and how communoties respond that must change
WPCNR MAYOR’S CORONAVIRUS REPORT: FROM THE MAYOR’S OFFICE:
7 PM EDT APRIL 1, 2020:
The state now has almost 84,000 cases, 10,683 are in Westchester, 35,000 have been tested. There are currently 268 Westchester County residents who are hospitalized, 12,226 are hospitalized statewide.
248 people with confirmed White Plains addresses have tested positive for the virus up from 172 yesterday (31% increase).
As we have said the local municipal numbers lag behind the broader county numbers due to the delay in the county receiving the necessary data from the state. Over time the lag has only gotten worse. Despite this we have determined that we will continue to provide you with the numbers that we receive each day.
When and if the county provided municipal numbers have “caught up” to the overall numbers we will let you know, until then that you should not come to conclusions, positive or negative based on one day’s report.
It’s Census Day! If you have not already done so, please take the time to fill out your census forms. We have received early results on the participation rates of the different communities in Westchester and I am pleased to tell you that we are leading the other major cities. If you haven’t completed your online response why not do so this evening? We’ve got some towns to beat!
As I announced last night, we will be celebrating essential workers who are doing so much for us every day by applauding them from our respective homes this Friday! At the request of White Plains Hospital, we have changed the time to 7pm. Windows, driveways, lawns, balconies and doorways all work, just make sure you stay 6 feet apart!
If you would like to directly express your appreciation for the heroic work being done every day by the people at White Plains Hospital go to wphospital.org/communitylove. If you want to help them stay home!
Remember we are standing together by staying apart
If you are experiencing symptoms associated with coronavirus, please call either the White Plains Hospital Hotline at (914) 681-2900 or the NYS Dept of Health Hotline at 1-888-364-3065. Professional staff will screen you over the phone by asking you a series of questions and assess your need for testing
THE WHITE PLAINS BID HAS PUBLISHED A LIST OF WHITE PLAINS RESTAURANTS WHO DELIVER OR YOU PICK UP MEALS. IT’S GREAT FOR THE OVER-STRESSED, CHILDREN-AT-HOME FAMILY WHO NEED A BREAK.
SAMPLE WHITE PLAINS RESTAURANTS. PREVENT FIRINGS. KEEP THEM GOING:
