Category: National News

The number of total COVID hospitalizations continues to decline. Total hospitalizations fell to 3,436, from 3,619 the day before. Saturday, NY state had 191 new COVID hospitalizations.

Daily fatalities drop to lowest level since March 23rd. 56 New Yorkers died from COVID. This is a tragic number — but we are thankful it is much, much lower than where it was at the peak. As this number goes down, it is expected to level out. The question is how low it will go before that happens.

Grab the tennis balls! Finley, a 6-year-old Golden Retriever from Canandaigua, NY, was recognized by Guinness World Records for being able to hold six tennis balls in his mouth with no assistance — shattering the previous record of five tennis balls. Congratulations to this very good boy on his world record.

The number of total COVID hospitalizations is still dropping. Total hospitalizations fell to 6,220, from 6,394 the day before. The number of new COVID hospitalizations also dropped, from 400 to 431 the day before. Tragically, we lost 157 New Yorkers to the virus on Friday.

Testing capacity continues to strengthen. On Friday, 40,669 New Yorkers were tested for the virus. For context, in early March, 2000 New Yorkers a day were being tested. Of those tested Friday, 2,419 people were positive.

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik is calling for a federal probe of Gov. Cuomo’s handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes. Her call came after a new report showed the state quietly altered the way it publicly reports nursing home deaths from the virus. In early May the state stopped counting nursing-home patients who died from COVID-19 in hospitals in its official tallies of nursing-home fatalities, The Daily Caller reported. It now only includes those deaths that occur in the nursing home facility itself. So if a nursing home resident catches COVID-19 in the nursing home, gets sent to a hospital and dies, that gets listed as a hospital death.

Today I joined my @NewYorkGOP colleagues in the House to call for a federal investigation of Cuomo’s failed nursing home policies. NOW they admit they unethically changed the way they report nursing home deaths. An INEXCUSABLE tragedy for NY – NEED ANSWERShttps://t.co/pHY98zlTN2

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) May 15, 2020

NY State beaches will be open Memorial Day weekend. In coordination with the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware, New York State beaches will reopen with restrictions in place effective Friday, May 22. The restrictions include reducing the number of people allowed and ensuring there are enough staff present to enforce social distancing. Local beaches and lakeshores may also open Friday May 22nd if they follow the same safety precautions.

“New York on PAUSE” remains in effect until May 28. However, as soon as your region hits the benchmarks, it can begin to reopen immediately — it does not have to wait until May 28. To see where our region stands, visit the state’s Regional Dashboard. Washington County has been placed in the “Capital Region.”

The number of total NY COVID hospitalizations is still dropping. Total hospitalizations fell to 6,394, from 6,706 the day before. The number of new COVID hospitalizations rose slightly to 431, from 420 the day before. Tragically, we lost 132 New Yorkers to the virus yesterday, and our hearts are with their loved ones.

The state has learned new insights about the patients being hospitalized with COVID-19 from a survey of hospitals. New York received 1,269 survey responses from 113 hospitals over three days. Of the newly hospitalized patients, 66% were at home before they were admitted, compared to 18% who had been in nursing homes, 4% in assisted living and less than one percent from jails or prisons. Only 4% of respondents reported having used public transportation.

The number of new COVID hospitalizations in New York continues to fall. Yesterday, the number of new COVID hospitalizations fell to 601, down from 659 the day before.

Now, through August 12th, sunsets will be 8 p.m. or later. According to National Weather Service, the first sunset after 8 p.m. was on Monday. Still, as the weather gets warmer, we must continue our vigilance and practice social distancing.

The state is asking New Yorkers to explain why wearing a mask in public is important in a video submission contest. The winning video will be used in a TV ad. Videos should be less than 30 seconds long and should show how to wear a mask properly, covering both the mouth and nose. The submission deadline is May 15th. Learn more at WearAMask.ny.gov.

Representative Stefanik sent a letter to House and Senate leadership requesting immediate help for the United Sates Postal Service. The letter, signed by members of the New York Congressional Delegation, outlines the importance of the Postal Service in New York State, where 7.7 million addresses are served. The letter also outlines the negative financial impact that the COVID-19 outbreak has had on mail volume and goes on to support the Postal Board of Governors’ request for a total of $75 billion in funding for the Postal Service. Representative Stefanik understands firsthand the importance of the Postal Service in her district, especially in our more rural areas. The Postal Service is a critical component of our infrastructure, and it employs many people in the district as well. Congresswoman Stefanik continues to advocate for federal funding to support the Postal Service through this challenging time and beyond.

Elsewhere:

First Lady Melania Trump’s Message for National Nurses Day