Governor Cuomo's Daily COVID-19 Briefing Summary

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Governor Cuomo's Daily COVID-19 Briefing Summary

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Notes from Governor Cuomo's COVID-19 Briefing
 
There were 18,015 total deaths in NYS as of yesterday.
 Hospitalizations and new cases are down.
 306 total deaths yesterday:
o 287 (hospitals); and
o 19 (nursing homes).
 
Summer Camps Reopening?
 Department of Health’s Concern: COVID-19 infects the lining of blood vessels and lungs.
o Some kids are having strange, adverse effects to this.
 Camps would like to open at the end of May.
o Some may be able to open in a limited basis.
 Cuomo says that the federal government is not providing enough funding for schools, rental assistance, etc.
 
Regent Tests
 August 2020 High School Regents are Cancelled.
 
Reopening NY
 Gov stressed two points about reopening:
o Closely monitor the rate of transmission, keep it below 1.1.
o Maintain 30% or more available hospital capacity.
 The state has collaborated with the federal government to increase testing to 30,000 tests per day. The goal is 40,000.
 
Testing & Tracing
 When you get a positive case of COVID-19, you must trace by identifying who they have been in contact with in the last 14 days.
o Yesterday, there were 4,681 positive cases.
o Over 300K (to date)
 The state needs help as there are too many people to contact at once.
 Collaboration with city and county health departments to find tracers
 
Michael Bloomberg
 Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended today's hearing via video conference.
 “We must use contact tracing as we relax social distancing protocols.”
 He announced partnerships with Johns Hopkins University, Vital Strategies, and Resolve to Save Lives, staffing organizations, and SUNY/CUNY.
 These organizations will help with tracing training, recruitment, guidance, and app development.
 Guidelines will be publicly available to provide a model for others and spread best practices.
 There must be 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 cases.
 Statewide, we will need about 6,000 tracers.
 There will be tri-state collaboration for contact tracing.
 People are usually in contact with a lot of people in two weeks.
 People have to be isolated, but they have roommates, family, etc.
o The state must then find hotels/isolation centers.
 The problem is the scale of people who need to be traced and isolated.
 
Health Care Facilities
 There is a case involving improper treatment of corpses at a Brooklyn funeral home.
o State is still investigating this case. No other details were provided.
 People are concerned that hospitals that resume elective surgeries will be swarmed.
 Cuomo reiterated that hospitals must maintain a "buffer," which means they must have 30% available capacity at all times.
 
NYC Public Transit
 NYC Subway conditions have rapidly deteriorated as a result of COVID-19.
 Overall MTA ridership is down 92%.
 MTA employees and NYPD officers are sick, so there are less people available to maintain the subway.
 There are less people to provide outreach for homeless people.
 The MTA has been cleaning the trains and buses every 72 hours.
 Unfortunately, the virus can remain on surfaces for days.
 Cuomo stated that trains and buses should be disinfected every 24 hours.
 The state, city, and local governments will partner up to disinfect trains/buses.
 The scale of work is unprecedented, but it must be done.
 The MTA will also disinfect the Metro North and LIRR without service disruptions.
o The slowest hours are from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.
o The MTA will provide free transportation during these hours.
 
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio attended the briefing via video conference.
 Cuomo & the Mayor had a moment where they agreed to work TOGETHER
– Cuomo smirked.
 de Blasio applauded Bloomberg for stepping up to trace COVID-19.
 He thanked first responders, healthcare workers, and other essential workers for their service during the crisis.
 Homeless outreach has been stymied in the past but support for outreach workers is crucial right now.
 
The Plight of the Unemployed
 The state and DOL are doing everything they can to move unemployment checks faster.
 Gov stressed that nobody can be evicted for non-payment of rent.
 Montana is providing rental assistance.
o NY cannot do that because we are broke.