DAWN PATROL
Governor Cuomo Tonight: Search for the Variant. 12,689 new Positives in Westchester Since December 1. Virgin airlines joins Delta and British Airways in Covid Pretesting Before Flights into NY from UK. The Spectacular “Great Conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn.
WPCNR GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO CORONA VIRUS REPORT. December 22, 2020:
(Editor’s Note: Westchester County Tested 8,910 persons Monday. There were 536 Westchester persons found to test positive an 6% of those tested.
The total of new persons testing positive in the 21 Days since December 1 to 12,689 in 21 days, more than doubling the positives on December 1st. (10,536) The new infections have been averaging 604 a day since December 1st. The infection rate average over the last 21 days: 6% )
Now to the Governor’s message:
With Christmas and Kwanzaa coming up this week, followed by New Year’s Eve, we all need to do our part to stop the spread. And we can do so by celebrating in different ways this year.
This year I encourage New Yorkers to celebrate smart so the virus doesn’t spread to the point where the hospital capacity is at risk. It’s been a long year and I do hope New Yorkers celebrate the holidays—but please celebrate smart.
Photo of the Day: The illuminated Christmas Tree at Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY (Photo by Mike Groll)
Here’s what else you need to know tonight:
1. New York’s Wadsworth Laboratory has begun aggressive research of the new, more contagious COVID-19 strain discovered in the U.K. Already, Wadsworth has looked at more than 3,700 virus sequences identified in New York. It has yet to find the U.K. variant present in any of the random samples
. Additionally, Wadsworth and the Department of Health have made agreements with six hospitals from across the State to obtain additional samples for further research and are making arrangements with other hospitals to do the same. If the variant is already here, we want to know, and we want to be able to aggressively trace it.
2. To date, 50,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered throughout New York. The state has received 630,000 doses thus far and expects to receive another 300,000 doses next week.
3. Virgin Atlantic has also agreed to require pre-departure COVID tests before passengers leave from the U.K. to New York. This is the third major airline to require a COVID-19 test before allowing passengers to board planes traveling from the United Kingdom to New York. I thank British Airways, Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic for this agreement.
4. Total hospitalizations rose to 6,661. Of the 164,868 tests reported yesterday, 9,716, or 5.89 percent, were positive. There were 1,126 patients in ICU yesterday, up 31 from the previous day. Of them, 614 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 139 New Yorkers to the virus.
5. It’s important we continue our vaccination program through the holidays. With Christmas and Kwanzaa rapidly approaching, I call on hospitals, nursing homes, and medical personnel to continue providing vaccinations throughout the holidays to ensure nursing home patients and frontline health care workers are protected as quickly as possible.
Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: Last night, stargazers and photographers looked up at the night sky to witness “The Great Conjunction,” a celestial phenomenon where Saturn and Jupiter appear extremely close together in the sky. Also dubbed “The Christmas Star,” an event of this caliber last occurred 800 years ago. The two planets won’t appear this close together again until 2080.
Saturn and Jupiter with The Milky Way viewed from Thailand (Photo by Chakarin Wattanamongkol/Getty Images)
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Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
JOHN BAILEY’S TUESDAY WHITE PLAINS REPORT HEARD ON WVOX 1460 ON WESTCHESTER’S NUMBER ONE LOCAL MORNING SHOW “GOOD MORNING WESTCHESTER” WITH “DENNIS AND TONNY”
WPCNR ON THE AIR. TRANSCRIPT OF JOHN BAILEY’S TUESDAY MORNING ON THE AIR APPEARANCE ON THE “DENNIS AND TONNY” WVOX 1460 GOOD MORNING WESTCHESTER TODAY AT 7:50 AM DECEMBER 22, 2020:
HAPPY HOLIDAY! GOOD MORNING FROM WHITE PLAINS NY USA WHERE IT’S 35 CLOUDY WPCNR DEGREES.
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Mayor Roach said in his weekly COVID BRIEFING last night, the County is in the process of transitioning to a new system to track and present Westchester County COVID data.
“As a result, they have discontinued the presentation of the county “map” and have not been providing us with estimated active cases. We have been told that the new system will be operational by the beginning of the year. “
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MAYOR ROACH In the meantime, SAID “as predicted, the raw data confirms continuing increases in new cases in Westchester County and in White Plains. “
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WPCNR, USING THE DATA ON DISPLAY DAILY AT 2 PM ON THE WORKBOOK NY STATE COVID TRACKER HAS DETERMINED THAT COVID INFECTIONS IN WHITE PLAINS DOUBLED IN THE 20 DAYS SINCE DECEMBER 1ST FROM 10,573 TO 22,679 WITH 433 NEW PEOPLE TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID IN WESTCHESTER TESTING SUNDAY.
THE SUNDAY INFECTION RATE OF WESTCHESTER PERSONS TESTING POSITIVE WAS 5.3% THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW INFECTIONS A DAY FOR THE LAST WEEK IS 586 A DAY. A CLEAR, CONCISE, COMPREHENSIVE COVID MAP OR GISMO OF THE GROWTH RATE OF NEW INFECTIONS FROM THE COUNTY IS LONG OVERDUE.
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WHITE PLAINS SCHOOLS WILL CONTINUE THE HYBRID LEARNING FORMAT IT HAS STUCK WITH WHEN SCHOOLS RESUME IN JANUARY THE WHITE PLAINS SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS DR. JOSEPH RICCA ANNOUNCED MONDAY.
TO DATE ACCORDING to THE NEW YORK SCHOOL REPORT CARD COVID TRACKER, 108 STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND STAFF HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID IN 12 WEEKS OF SCHOOL
THERE ARE 7,200 STUDENTS AND 1,400 STAFF AND TEACHERS, SO THIS MEANS OF 8,600 AT RISK, THE INFECTION RATE AT THE WHITE PLAINS SCHOOLS THROUGH DEC 18 IS 1.3%. THE SCHOOLS IN WHITE PLAINS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM
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Mayor Roach took note of this urgency to self-distance in last night’s message to White Plains, “We are in the midst of the holiday season and I certainly understand that we all want to spend time relaxing with family and friends. This is not the year for it.”
“How we behave between now and the end of the year, the Mayor said, will determine what we are able to do in January and February. With the vaccine roll out taking place, now is not the time to backslide.”
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At White Plains Hospital, Mayor Roach said the number of COVID patients has been holding steady. They continue to perform elective procedures and encourage all community members to go to the hospital if they are in need of emergency care.
THE MAYOR WAS ON HAND WHEN WHITE PLAINS HOSPITAL STARTED VACCINATING ITS FRONT LINE WORKERS. HE SAID THE VACCINE IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC UNTIL SPRING. THE WHITE PLAINS HOSPITAL HAS PREPARED MATERIAL TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. YOU CAN LEARN MORE BY GOING TO www.wphospital.org
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The Governor has issued an Executive Order allowing local governments to automatically renew STAR benefits for 2021 for all property owners who received the benefit in 2020 and remain eligible for it.
SPEAKING OF JANUARY RESTAURANT MONTH BEGINS IN WHITE PLAINS JANUARY 2 TO 31ST.
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THE CITY CENTER MANAGEMENT IS BRINGING ON A NEW NON UNION CLEANING FIRM WHICH WANTS TO CUTCLEANING STAFF TO 6 FROM 14 AND ELIMINATE SOME 14 SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION 32BJ EMPLOYEES. THIS WAS PROTESTED BY A DEMONSTRATION OUTSIDE THE CITY CENTER.
IT IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED TO TWO YEARS. BY LAW THE CITY CENTER OWNER IS SUPPOSED TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE UNION WORKERS ON SEVERENCES AND POSSIBLE CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT. THE SEIU CLEANERS GET ONLY $15 AN HOUR.
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GREENBURGH THIS MORNING INITIATED A BAN ON DOOR-TO-DOOR SOLICIATIONS FOR THE FORESEABLE FUTURE. IT WAS ANNOUNCED BY TOWN SUPERVISOR PAUL FEINER ONE OF ONLY TWO CITY LEADERS ALONG WITH THE MAYOR OF MOUNT VERNON, WHO HAS INSTITUTED NEW ENFORCEMENT MEASURES ON SOCIAL DISTANCING.
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I CONGRATULATE COUNTY EXECUTIVE GEORGE LATIMER EARLIER ON YOUR PROGRAM THIS MORNING ANNOUNCING THE COUNTY HAS SETTLED ITS LEGAL DISPUTE WITH STANDARD AMUSEMENTS ON PLAYLAND. I PREDICTED THIS WOULD HAPPEN ON “WHITE PLAINS WEEK” FREQUENTLY IN THE LAST YEAR.
The CitizeNetReporter, John Bailey founder of Wpcnr.com reporting since 2000 A.D., is heard Tuesdays at 7:50 AM on WVOX 1460 AM or WVOX.COM on Westchester County’s Number One rated morning show Dennis & Tonny’s Good Morning Westchester. Drivers should pull off the road while listening to avoid being distracted in traffic due to the content you will hear nowhere else.