WESTCHESTER SUFFERS HIGHEST PERSONS TESTING POSITIVE FRIDAY FOR COVID IN A SINGLE DAY IN 13 WEEKS. SATURDAY WESTCHESTER POSITIVES RAISE WEEK TOTAL TO 2,459 NEW CASES APRIL 24 THROUGH APRIL 30

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LONG ISLAND SURGES FROM  500 CASES A DAY SUNDAY, MONDAY TUES LAST WEEK TO OVER 1,200 NEW POSTIVES A DAY  AND NEW YORK CITY  JUST SHY OF 3,000 A DAY FOR EACH DAY WEDNESDAY  THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

A SUSTAINABLE TREND OR LAST SURGE?

SCHOOL BREAK AFTERMATH INCREASES COVID CASES IN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

WPCNR COVID DAILY. From the New York State Covid Tracker. Observations & Analysis by John F. Bailey. May 1, 2022 UPDATED 10:32 P.M E.D.T.:

The Friday positive new covid persons number was the highest number recorded in the 4 weeks of April: 481, only  April 21 even close (428).  Prior to Friday, the last time Westchester had so many cases was on January 25, 13 weeks ago when 570 persons were found positive.

In the last two weeks of April, with Saturday results just in, we are seeing a pattern.

As the WPCNR Covid Logbook shows: testing quantities are down, yet infection rates are up especially in the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday period. (People start going for tests when they get symptoms over weekends.)

Saturday results this evening reported 340 new positives among 4,760 testing Saturday bringing the April 24 to 30 week infections to 2,459 the highest total of the last 5 weeks.

Yet? And Yet?

We do not have demographics to determine what age groups are contracting the disease. Failure to break down the demographics prevents people from knowing who with shots or who without shots, or who do not have enough shots are getting infected and the seriousness of the disease when they get it.

In the six days of last week April 24 through 29, 29,991 tests were taken for covid and 2,117 tested positive, a 7% infection rate. If Westchester reports  200 positives on Saturday it will mark the 5th consecutive week of increased positives from the last week of March.

Three factors driving this may be the euphoria of relief from masking, socializing of persons of all ages and the feeling that covid is over.  This a de’ja’ vu scenario of last spring when the NY legislature took away the former Governor’s emergency powers to make covid policy themselves and the oversight committee of both houses relaxed socializing, entertainment restaurant and venue rules.

By Mid-July after the July 4 weekend, cases started to rise resulting in increased cases in September and culminating in the largest wave of covid just 4 months ago in January when Thanksgiving and the holidays really spread the covid scourge–not so long ago. Remember?

The cases of covid hospitalizations are running 60 to 65% as of last week. How serious are those cases? Are they discharged, no ill aftereffects? Any ventilated? We need to know. Specifics, please? If the cases were light in the hospitalizing decision, how light were they?

Are many who are infected of the new cases not fully vaccinated, (only have one shot, perhaps)? We do not have that break down of the vaccine status of persons who are not fully vaccinated . And there are a lot of them.

As a selling point on the vaccines we got a breakdown last summer from Governor Cuomo that 90% of new cases were of those who did not have the vaccine.  

I did the math on the Westchester vaccinated universe in the chart below: There is a substantial gap of people who have one shot and how many are fully vaccinated. It would indicate to me and perhaps only me, that maybe, just maybe the undervaccinated are a portion of the new cases we are seeing. Maybe? Or maybe not? We need those numbers. And where is the contact tracing to bring shots to the people who still need them? You could make a public health ruling from Albany that everyone who needs a shot or not have a shot must get one. But Albany does not have the backbone to do that, I do not think.

However if infections keep going up each week you will see significantly more if you test more.

This could mean many people may be refusing to test themselves for fear of having to quarantine which they have to do if they test positive. This supposition is just that but, as I pointed out  if you tested  12,000 persons in Westchester and 6000 of them tested at 6% positive as they did last Thursday, you would have 720 new positives in one day. Let’s call the non-tested universe out there the Phantom Positives. The statistics are remarkably exponentially reliable. They have proved that. You just have to see what the statistics are saying, if indeed we are not seeing what the infection rates on low quantities of tests are saying.

If you average  700 new positive covids a day, you would have 5,000 new infections a week. Those 5,000 spreading it even if only one person got it from them to 5,000 more, making 10,000 new infections in two weeks.

Is the 6-day infection rate of this last week which was an average of 7% positives a day a bell weather of a earlier beginning of a swelling of covid cases? I don’t know. If you want to make covid a regular part of  life in Westchester, we have to find out more concrete information on how sick are the people getting “mild” infections and how sick are the persons who are being hospitalized and who they are. HIPPA privacy laws should not restrict the flow of information to make wise decisions not “hunch” decisions.

The infections town by town in Westchester are growing across the county. Here are the Westchester County worst infected regions as of Friday.

WESTCHESTER TOWNS AND CITIES MOST ACTIVE CASES/DAILY CASES PER DAY APRIL 29

1-YONKERS 647–56 DAILY CASES

2- NEW ROCHELLE  392–41 CASES DAILY (UP 171 IN 2 WEEKS)

3- WHIITE PLAINS 287,  32 CASES DAILY

4-GREENBURGH  273, 27 DAILY CASES

4-MOUNT VERNON  265, 22 DAILY CASES

5-YORKTOWN  243,  17 DAILY CASES

6-NORTH CASTLE, NEW CASTLE  233– 14 DAILY CASES

7-MAMARONECK TOWN, VILLAGE, LARCHMONT—202 — 19 DAILY CASES

8-MT. PLEASANT 174– 12 DAILY CASES

9-OSSINING TOWN & VILLAGE—164–  12 DAILY CASES

9-CORTLANDT—164—15 DAILY CASES

10- HARRISON, 153, 15 DAILY CASES

11- RYE CITY & RYE BROOK—147 CASES–14 DAILY CASES

12-TARRYTOWN & SLEEPY HOLLOW—143   19 DAILY CASES

13 BEDFORD—108- 12 DAILY CASES

14- SOMERS—102—15 DAILY CASES

This breakout above shows how the disease is infecting northern suburbs, the 3 largest cities at the top of the chart, but notably Port Chester and Peekskill do not make 100 cases.

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COUNTY EXECUTIVE SIGNS GAS SALES TAX CAP INTO LAW AND MAKES BEELINE BUSES FARE FREE.

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. april 29, 2022:

Following his introduction of this legislation, Westchester County Executive George Latimer has signed into law a cap on the County’s collection of sales tax on gas purchases to $.12 per gallon, equal to the cost of the tax with gas at $3.00 per gallon.

In addition to this, Latimer has taken executive action to suspend the collection of Bee-Line Bus fees through the summer.

The gas tax cap will run from June 1, 2022 to August 31, 2022. Latimer’s directive on the County’s Bee-Line Bus fares did not require legislation. This suspension of fares will run during the Summer until a later date.

Latimer said: “These two actions, both the capping of our gas tax and suspension of Bee-Line Bus fees, are simple measures that can really add up for Westchester residents. No matter how you commute, saving money on your trips each day can make a big difference. I thank the Board of Legislators for their partnership on this important, and timely, legislation.”

(Editor’s Note: City of White Plains has not responded on whether they anticipate enacting the cap at Monday’s Common Council meeting or later in May.)

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Financial Advisor Charged With Embezzlement From Client

WPCNR FBI WIRE. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation. April 28, 2022:

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment in White Plains federal court charging ADAM BELARDINO, the Chief Executive Officer of the Maddox Group, a financial advisory firm in New York City and elsewhere, with wire fraud in connection with his embezzlement of more than $313,000 from a Maddox client, a 64 year old New Rochelle resident. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Adam Belardino abused the trust his client placed in him by stealing more than $313,000 the client gave him to be invested.  Clients like the victim in this case need to be able to entrust their money to financial advisors with confidence that the money will be invested in a manner that is appropriate for them.  This Office will aggressively pursue financial advisors and others who steal money entrusted to them by clients.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael J. Driscoll said:  “Belardino is charged today for allegedly stealing several hundred thousand dollars from a client in an illegal investment fraud scheme. Financial crimes of this nature can cause significant disruptions to the lives of those who are victimized. We urge everyone to exercise their due diligence when investing their money and to report suspicious activity to authorities as soon as possible.”

According to the Indictment unsealed today in White Plains federal court[1]:

BELARDINO had managed the victim’s investments at another firm before he founded Maddox in July 2019.  In August 2019, BELARDINO convinced the victim to liquidate some of her portfolio and to transfer the liquidated funds to Maddox for investment.  The victim then transferred more than $313,000 to Maddox in eight separate transactions between August 2019 and October 2020.  Instead of investing the victim’s money as he had promised, BELARDINO used the victim’s money to pay the operating expenses of Maddox, including payroll and office rent; to pay down prior debt; to pay credit card charges, which consisted primarily of personal items; and to pay for personal travel. 

In September 2021, the victim directed BELARDINO to transfer her portfolio at Maddox to her brokerage account at another firm.  From September 2021 to February 2022, BELARDINO sent the victim and members of her family emails and texts in which he said he was liquidating the portfolio and would return the funds shortly.  BELARDINO also provided the victim’s family with documents suggesting that a wire transfer of the funds to the victim’s bank account was imminent or pending.  BELARDINO also deposited checks drawn on a checking account held by Maddox into the victim’s bank account for what he claimed was the full value of the victim’s portfolio. 

The victim never received any funds by wire and the checks BELARDINO deposited into her bank account were returned because the Maddox account did not have sufficient funds to cover the checks.  BELARDINO sent members of the victim’s family emails and texts in which he said in substance and in part that he was working with bank officials to resolve the problem and that his family would repay the victim if he was unable to do so.  BELARDINO also sent members of the victim’s family a document that falsely stated that the Maddox bank account had sufficient funds to repay the victim.

BELARDINO, 37, of New York City, is charged with one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

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