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 THE LETTER TICKER. MARCH 30,2020 3 PM EDT:

 As you know, Fairfield County is currently the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in Connecticut. Stamford Health is at the frontline of this unfolding COVID-19 crisis caring for our family, friends and neighbors who are contending with this incredibly infectious disease. 

 On behalf of Stamford Health, we would like to ask for your immediate help. As you know, there is a national shortage of what is called Personal Protective Equipment, or “PPE.”  

Please look at your inventory to see if you have any of the following PPE to donate to Stamford Health:  • Disposable face masks• N95 masks, sometimes called respirators• Eye protection including face shields and safety goggles• Disposable gowns• Disposable gloves, especially non-latex• Disposable surgical caps• Disposable foot covers• Wipes: bleach or antimicrobial• Hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol)• Infrared/Temporal thermometers If so, please contact Chris Riendeau or Belinda Foster of Stamford Hospital Foundation.  

Chris Riendeau – 203-276-5977 or criendeau@stamhealth.org Belinda Foster – 203-276-5995 or bfoster@stamhealth.org 

Beginning today March 30, you can drop off PPE donations at a safe and secure, curbside drop-off zone located at Stamford Health’s Tully Health Center. Volunteer staff will be available to accept PPE donations Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Please note that items should be in their original, unopened packaging.  A huge thanks on behalf of everyone at Stamford Health.

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WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. Special from the Governor’s Press Office. (EDITED) March 30, 2020:

Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo was a guest on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss New York’s plan to combat the novel coronavirus crisis.

AUDIO is available here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s interview is available below:

Joe Scarborough: Let’s bring in right now the Governor of New York, Governor Cuomo. Governor, thank you so much for being with us. Let’s just throw it open to you and tell us what does New York State need? What does New York City need right now?

Mika Brzezinski: And any new numbers you might have.

Governor Cuomo: Yeah, well, thank you Joe, thank you Mika. Thank you very much for your coverage. It’s really great and it’s important to get straight information to the people of this country now and you are doing that extraordinarily well. We don’t have the numbers from last night yet, we’re putting them together, but they’re going to be up.

The number of deaths, my guess, is going to be over 1,000. You’re exactly right that New York is the canary in the coal mine. You’re going to see this moving across the country. Anyone who wants to say this is New York alone, that’s a political, partisan, divisive view and it’s exactly wrong.

What they still don’t get is how to run a government, how to plan an operation.

This virus has been ahead of us from day one. We’ve been playing catch up from day one. That we’re doing in New York is we know the apex is still two, three, four weeks away depending on whose projection model you use.

Prepare for the apex. Have the materials for the apex. That’s when the system is going to collapse. 

So he’s right, they sent 4,000 ventilators. I’m not using them today because I don’t need them today. I need to assemble them in a stockpile. A stockpile, by definition, is to be used at the high point.

Joe Scarborough:So what plea do you today, what plea do you have for this President and also those around that keep telling this warehouse story over and over again?

Governor Cuomo: Joe, my plea is, and pardon me if I’m a little emotional, but I’m living with this 24 hours a day and I’m seeing people die all around me.

The science people, the government professionals have to stand up and look the President in the eye and say this is not a political exercise. This is not press relations. It’s not optics. The tsunami is coming. We know it is.

Now is the time to gather supplies, do the preparations because it’s too late the day before. If you have not done the work before the storm hits, it’s too late to do it once the storm hits. And the storm is coming. Stop the politics. Listen to the scientists and the pros and plan because otherwise, Joe, Mika, people will die who don’t need to die. That’s the bottom line.

Mika Brzezinski: Governor, did you get hope from the President’s setting a new timeline and no longer talking about Easter being this big reopening day?

Governor Cuomo: I don’t know. Easter was never real. So many things he says that are not real that, frankly, I don’t have the luxury of trying to decipher every message, right?

I’m living day by day. I see the storm coming. I can see the forecast. I follow projections. I follow science. I follow data. I don’t have instinct. I don’t have a gut. It’s not about emotion.

The storm hits, according to McKinsey and Cornell and the Gates Foundation, the storm hits in two weeks, three weeks. This is what I’m going to need if you don’t want to see a total collapse, and let’s focus on getting that. Everything else is baloney to me. I can’t decipher the daily mumblings of the President.

Joe Scarborough: … do you think even conservatives in upstate New York who support Donald Trump now understand the science is daunting, not just for the city but for them as well?

Governor Cuomo: You know, some people want to hold on to their ideological beliefs and they’re going to cling on to their misperceptions as long as possible, but the march of science and data is irrefutable.

And the numbers will increase, and the numbers are spreading every day. It’s more and more clear and at one point you can’t disbelieve the forecaster, and it’s going to rain when you’re drenched – and people will be drenched, Joe.

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WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. From the Mayor’s Office. March 29, 2020:

The numbers released by NY State today indicate Westchester County now has 8519 cases of which 644 are new.   There are 59,513 positive cases in NY State; 144 are White Plains residents.  The total number of people tested in Westchester County is 32,513. 

(Editor’s note: The 17 new residents found with the virus is a 13% increase overnight from Saturday, slightly above the 10% experienced Friday to Saturday.)

Early on Governor Cuomo identified finding additional medical personnel as a vital component of fighting this crisis; he put out a call for doctors, nurses and other medical professionals whether retired or working outside the hospital environment and asked them to step up in this time of need.  Today he announced that 70,000 have done so; if someone hearing this call is one of them; Thank you.

I Stopped by the County Center this afternoon to thank the workers building a hospital inside and outside the building on a wet cold and miserable day. They’re expanding capacity, by staying home you’re helping to reduce the demand. We are truly 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

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WPCNR CORNOVIRUS REPORT. From the Governor’s Office. UPDATED 4:35 pm edt:

The Governor confirmed 7,195 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 59,513 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 59,513 total individuals who tested positive for the virus , the geographic breakdown is as follows:

EDITOR’S NOTE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY CONTINUES TO HAVE CORoNAVIRUS POSITIVES GO UP,.THE COUNTY INCREASED CASES BY 8.1% TO 8,519 overnight. (The county Coronavirus positives was at 7,875 at Noon yesterday).

NEW YORK CITY INFECTIONS OF CORONAVIRUS INCREASED OVERNIGHT AT ITS LOWEST RATE IN A WEEK, 13.4% BY 4,002 FROM 29,766 TO 33,768.

THE GOVERNOR WARNED THE RATE FLUCTUATES DAY BY DAY, SAYING HE EXPECTED THE SPREAD FROM NEW YORK CITY TO UPSTATE WOULD HIT EITHER WESTCHESTER OR NASSAU COUNTIES FIRST

NASSAU AND SUFFOLK COUNTIES CONTINUE TO TEST SIGNIFICANTLY MORE CORONAPOSITIVE. NASSAU COUNTY SAW A 16% INCREASE SATURDAY TO SUNDAY TO 6,445 ( UP FROM 5,537).

SUFFOLK SAW 885 NEW CASES, A 21% INCREASE SATURDAY TO SUNDAY (FROM 4,138 sATURDAY TO 5,023).

ROCKLAND COUNTY CONTINUES TO HAVE INFECTIONS RISE. ROCKLAND STANDS AT 2,209 UP ABOUT 2% FROM YESTERDAY. CORONAVIRUS POSITIVE VICTIMS,

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	205	10
Allegany	6	4
Broome	29	6
Cattaraugus	4	3
Cayuga	2	0
Chautauqua	5	0
Chemung	15	3
Chenango	15	7
Clinton	13	1
Columbia	23	1
Cortland	6	1
Delaware	8	0
Dutchess	320	58
Erie	358	40
Essex	4	0
Franklin	6	2
Fulton	1	0
Genesee	9	2
Greene	7	0
Hamilton	2	0
Herkimer	10	1
Jefferson	7	1
Lewis	2	2
Livingston	10	5
Madison	24	5
Monroe	219	27
Montgomery	6	1
Nassau	6445	908
Niagara	38	5
NYC	33768	4002
Oneida	26	3
Onondaga	152	23
Ontario	18	2
Orange	1247	146
Orleans	3	0
Oswego	8	1
Otsego	10	3
Putnam	144	13
Rensselaer	39	1
Rockland	2209	313
Saratoga	102	6
Schenectady	76	4
Schoharie	5	0
Schuyler	1	0
St. Lawrence	12	4
Steuben	17	4
Suffolk	5023	885
Sullivan	88	16
Tioga	4	0
Tompkins	52	7
Ulster	146	18
Warren	18	5
Washington	7	1
Wayne	12	0
Westchester	8519	644
Wyoming	8	1

WPCNR CORONAVIRUS REPORT. MARCH 29, 2020:

GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO SAID MAYOR DEBLASIO WILL ORGANIZE, MAKE DECISIONS ON NY CITY PUBLIC  AND PRIVATE HOSPITALS TO WORK AS A TEAM TO RELIEVE OVERCROWDED HOSPITALS AND SHIFT PATIENTS TO OTHER VENUES. 

THE GOVERNOR PREDICTED DEATHS LIKELY IN THE THOUSANDS, MOSTLY IN NURSING HOMES.

HE ANNOUNCED THERE ARE NO BANS NEW YORK RESIDENTS CROSSING INTO OTHER STATES.

HE SAID THE HOSPITAL SHIP PULLS INTO NY TOMORROW THREE WEEKS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.

HE ALSO ANNOUNCED A FAST ON THE SPOT CORONAVIRUS TEST HAS BEEN DEVELOPED TO SPEED TESTING.

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