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NYS Coronavirus Update


Slide from Governor Cuomo’s press conference today mandating people have face coverings in public beginning Friday April 17th.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that he is ordering all people to have a face covering while in public and that they must wear it when they are in a situation where they cannot maintain social distancing. The executive order will take effect on Friday after a three-day grace period, Governor Cuomo said at his daily news conference in Albany.

Glens Falls Hospital announced yesterday that effective immediately, the Whitehall Medical Center will be temporarily CLOSED until further notice. See the announcement here.

President Trump said the administration was halting funding to the World Health Organization, the international body that said in January that COVID-19 could not be spread by human-to-human contact.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

For the first time since NY began recording the data, the total number of hospitalizations has dipped down in New York State. We also saw a drop in the number of intubations for the second day in a row. That’s the good news; it shows that what we are doing is working. But the tragic news is that we lost 778 New Yorkers to this virus on April 14th. The number of daily fatalities has been essentially flat — but at a horrifying rate. We mourn every New Yorker we’ve lost.

Due to Coronavirus, there is a shortage of blood and blood donations are desperately needed. New York State is working with blood banks to ensure safe social distancing protocols are being followed. Learn how and where you can donate at ny.gov/donateblood.

President Trump met with former Coronavirus patients who have fully recuperated from the illness. He invited them to the White House to share their recovery stories with the American people.

First Lady Melania Trump recorded a special message for America’s children.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

We have now lost 10,056 New Yorkers to this vicious virus. We lost 671 people on Easter Sunday — an unfathomable loss. Behind each of these numbers is a face, a family and untold suffering. We are #NewYorkTough for them.

The Lake George Park Commission has announced that it is delaying the start of the Mandatory Boat Inspection Program for a month until June 1. Read the announcement here.

“The Commission must balance the risk of new introductions of aquatic invasive species versus the health and safety of the public and our staff,” notes Chairman Bruce Young. “An analysis of launch data from the past six years of the mandatory inspection program shows a lower risk for invasives introductions in the month of May compared with the summer months. Only 4% of annual decontaminations occur in May, and most boats are being launched for the first time of the season.”

Boaters are still required to have a Lake George boat registration sticker for 2020, and all boats still must arrive at Lake George “clean, drained and dry” notes Dave Wick, the LGPC Executive Director.

The New York State DEC has issued new guidelines on social distancing while out on the Lake. With anglers and early boaters getting out on the Lake, this is important reading.

Reminder: To ensure boater safety during “cold water” weather — from Nov. 1 to May 1 — state navigation law states that everyone on a boat that’s 21 feet long or shorter must wear a personal flotation device.

Elsewhere:

Celebrated Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli gave an Easter performance from the Cathedral of Milan that was seen by over 26 million people around the world — although no one was in attendance in person.

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NYS Coronavirus Update


The Full Pink Moon, the largest full moon of 2020, rises above the White House | April 7, 2020

As of yesterday, the Federal Small Business Administration has processed more than $70 billion in guaranteed loans for qualifying small businesses. More loans are being approved every hour. President Trump called on CEOs from America’s largest financial institutions to join him for a conference call yesterday. His message: Keep doing everything you can to support our nation’s small businesses during this pandemic.

To honor those we have lost to COVID-19, Governor Cuomo is directing all flags on state government buildings to be flown at half-staff. Every single New Yorker we have lost to this vicious virus is in our hearts. The flags will remain lowered while New York remains on PAUSE.

The Governor will issue an Executive Order to ensure New Yorkers can vote by absentee ballot in the June 23rd elections. The Governor previously issued an Executive Order to move the presidential primary election from April 28 to June 23rd, aligning it with the congressional and legislative primaries in New York.

The State Department of Labor will immediately make $600 in additional weekly unemployment benefits available to all New Yorkers. New York is also extending the period covered by unemployment benefits for another 13 weeks, for a total of 39 weeks. A reminder for those who have difficulty enrolling for UI: any claim you file will be backdated to the date you became unemployed. If you are eligible, you will be paid all benefits due.

Delta, JetBlue, Southwest and United are offering free travel to New York for COVID-19 medical workers. To date, more than 90,000 health professionals, including more than 25,000 out-of-state individuals, have signed up to serve as part of the state’s surge healthcare force during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We are grateful to these airlines for supporting our front line workers.

Elsewhere:

The Dominican Sisters of Nashville, TN have an interesting description to explain what faith is, and are praying for everyone.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

How to Make a Face Covering

By tomorrow, the Federal Government will have deployed over 3,000 military and public health professionals to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and other parts of our country most affected by Coronavirus.

The government is delivering an additional 600,000 N95 masks to New York City to support its public hospital system, as requested by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Another 200,000 will be delivered to Suffolk County on Long Island.


Forest Rangers assist at the new COVID-19 mobile testing site at the State University at Albany campus.

DEC personnel from across agency divisions and regions statewide are supporting the State’s response to COVID-19. Personnel from more than 20 New York State agencies are working on response efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. DEC Forest Rangers’ expertise in the Incident Command System (ICS) and experience in applying ICS to wide area searches and large wildland fire have made them a key part of this statewide effort. Several DEC Forest Rangers are part of the New York State Incident Management Team, or IMT, an interagency team comprised of personnel from various state, county, and local agencies who represent a variety of disciplines. The IMT assists Incident Command personnel and emergency managers in ensuring a prompt, efficient, and organized response to complex incidents.

New York’s “surge and flex” hospital system is being put to work. 802 ventilators have been distributed downstate, where all hospital systems are working together as one and sharing supplies, equipment and staff. Of the 802 ventilators, 38 were deployed to Rockland County, 36 were deployed to Westchester County, 505 were deployed to New York City and 223 were deployed to Long Island.

Elsewhere:

In Tuesday’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing, President Trump announced that “we’re gonna put a hold on money spent to the WHO [World Health Organization].”

The President said:

“The WHO, that’s the World Health Organization, receives vast amounts of money from the United States, and we pay for a majority of — the biggest portion of their money, and they actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it, and they were wrong. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things. They had a lot of information early and they didn’t want to — they seemed to be very China-centric, and we have to look into that, so we’re gonna look into it. We pay for a majority of the money they get….”

“They called it wrong. They called it wrong. They really — they missed the call. They could have called it months earlier. They would have known, and they should have known, and they probably did know, so we’ll be looking into that very carefully. And we’re gonna put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re gonna put a very powerful hold on it, and we’re gonna see. It’s a great thing if it works, but when they call every shot wrong, that’s no good.”

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NYS Coronavirus Update

Governor Cuomo Asks Federal Government for More Hydroxychloroquine

The federal government is deploying 1,000 personnel to New York State. The personnel includes doctors, nurses, respiratory technicians and therapists to help the state’s overwhelmed hospital systems. The first 325 personnel were deployed to the New York City hospital system on Sunday.

The State COVID-19 tracker now includes more comprehensive demographics. The website, www.ny.gov/covid-19tracker, now includes additional data on the gender distribution of positive cases, as well as fatalities by age group.

A mental health hotline is available to New Yorkers who need it. It can’t be underestimated the impact this pandemic is having on mental health. New Yorkers can call the state’s hotline at 1-844-863-9314 to get free emotional support, consultations and referrals to a provider.

A reminder that pharmacies offer free home delivery of prescriptions to New Yorkers. Pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS, have agreed to offer free home delivery of prescriptions to help reduce long lines. New Yorkers can easily get the prescriptions they need without putting themselves or others at risk.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik released the below statement following Governor Cuomo’s announcement that he is signing an executive order to shift ventilators from Upstate to Downstate New York:

“I am very concerned about Governor Cuomo’s announcement today regarding his plan to sign an executive order to shift ventilators from Upstate to Downstate New York,” said Congresswoman Stefanik. “The North Country comprises the largest number of seniors of any Congressional District in New York State, the most vulnerable age group to COVID-19. Our critical needs and vulnerabilities must be considered. North Country hospitals reached out to my office with this specific concern earlier this week – our rural hospitals are already very limited in resources and we must ensure Upstate New York’s needs for testing supplies and ventilators are fully met. I am committed to working through these concerns with both Republican and Democrat Upstate officials, our hospitals, and county public health offices.”

The Governor announced he will issue an Executive Order allowing the State to redistribute ventilators and personal protective equipment to hospitals with the highest need. He will ask upstate hospitals to loan 20 percent of their unused ventilators to struggling downstate hospitals — and then he has stated he will ask downstate hospitals for similar help when the pandemic wave hits upstate New York. The equipment will either be returned to the hospital it came from or the hospital will be reimbursed for it.

A new COVID-19 drive-thru mobile testing center will open in Albany on Monday, April 6th. The mobile testing center will be located in a parking lot at the State University of New York at Albany campus at 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany. The site will prioritize tests for individuals who are among the highest risk population. Capital District residents who would like to be tested must make an appointment by calling 888-364-3065. There will be no walk-ins allowed and all patients must be in a vehicle.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, decades-old malaria drugs. The agency allowed for the drugs to be “donated to the Strategic National Stockpile to be distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible,” HHS said in a statement.

Congresswoman Stefanik Unveils New COVID-19 Resources and CARES ACT Information Website. Her office put together a new website with specific information on what the stimulus package does for families, healthcare workers, seniors, small businesses, veterans, students, and rural communities. It also includes Frequently Asked Questions and general COVID-19 resources page. You can access the website at Stefanik.house.gov/coronavirus

The New York State Dept of Labor is waiving the 7-day waiting period for unemployment insurance benefits for people who are out of work due to Coronavirus closures or quarantines.

Brooks Brothers is sewing hope in the coronavirus fight. Instead of churning out preppy staples like seersucker suits and woven-silk ties, America’s oldest retailer is now making masks and gowns for health care workers.” The company’s goal is to make 150,000 masks per day, reports the New York Post.

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NYS Coronavirus Update

CDC Issues Domestic Travel Advisory for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut Due to extensive community transmission of COVID-19 in the area, CDC urges residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately. This Domestic Travel Advisory does not apply to employees of critical infrastructure industries, including but not limited to trucking, public health professionals, financial services, and food supply. The Governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will have full discretion to implement this Domestic Travel Advisory.

A site on Lake George has offered its facilities to New York state should a North Country temporary hospital site be needed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Post Star, The Silver Bay YMCA Conference and Family Retreat Center on the west shore of Lake George in Hague, NY, made this offer earlier this week. Read the story here.

New York State will stay on PAUSE through April 15th. That means the non-essential workforce is directed to continue to work from home until at least April 15th. NY State will re-evaluate every two weeks.

Pharmacies will now offer free home delivery to New Yorkers. The state’s major pharmacy chains have agreed to offer free home delivery to help reduce long lines for prescriptions at their facilities.

The USNS Comfort, a U.S. Navy hospital ship, is expected to arrive in New York Harbor on Monday. It is a massive facility with 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, a pharmacy and a medical laboratory. It is fully staffed with 1,200 members of the US Navy. The Comfort’s beds will be used for non-Coronavirus patients to free up hospital capacity.

Elsewhere:

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NYS Coronavirus Update

The federal government has sent 4,000 ventilators to NY State. According to Governor Cuomo at his press conference today, these are not in use “because we don’t need them currently.” These are being stockpiled, if they are needed within the next month.

All non-essential construction must be suspended.
Essential construction, for example construction on roads, bridges, transit facilities, homeless shelters and health care facilities, may continue. For more details, see https://esd.ny.gov/guidance-executive-order-2026.

Apple has worked with the Trump administration and federal agencies to release a COVID-19 screening tool app and website. This site is now live. https://www.apple.com/covid19

New York’s presidential primary will be moved to June 23rd. The Governor is issuing an Executive Order to move the presidential primary election from April 28 to June 23rd, aligning it with the congressional and legislative primaries in New York.

The federal government has approved four new sites for temporary hospitals to be built by the Army Corps of Engineers. The sites — the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the Aqueduct Racetrack facility in Queens, CUNY Staten Island and the New York Expo Center in the Bronx — will add an additional 4,000 beds to the state’s capacity.

The state will dedicate specific hospital facilities as COVID-patient only. The state has identified three sites — South Beach Psychiatric Facility in Staten Island, Westchester Square in the Bronx and SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn — that will provide more than 600 beds specifically for COVID-19 patients.

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NYS Coronavirus Update


March 27, 2020 – New York City, NY – Governor Andrew Cuomo entering a press briefing on coronavirus at Jacob Javits Convention Center, where a make-shift hospital is now complete. (Darren McGee- Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

The first 1,000-bed temporary hospital is now complete at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. The facility will fully open on Monday. Congratulations to FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Guard and the staff at Javits for their speedy work. They built an entire hospital in a week — an incredible achievement.

Schools statewide will remain closed until at least April 15th. The state will reassess whether to continue closures at that time. School districts will be required to continue child care, meal and distance learning programs.

The USNS Comfort, a U.S. Navy hospital ship, is expected to arrive in New York Harbor on Monday. It is a massive facility with 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, a pharmacy and a laboratory. The Comfort’s beds will be used for non-Coronavirus patients to free up hospital capacity.

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Video: Dr. Deborah Birx March 26th Comments

In the video below from Thursday March 26th, Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, makes some very important points.

1.) She specifically notes that a recent report, which had predicted 500,000 deaths in the UK and estimated 2.2 million deaths in the United States, just scaled back its estimate from 500,000 UK deaths to 20,000. That’s a big change.

2.) Models or simulations predicting very high mortality rates, Birx said, don’t match the reality of what they’ve seen on the ground in China, South Korea or Italy. Birx said if you did the divisions according to the models, Italy should have 400,000 deaths. But she says, they’re not even close to that. Indeed, they are at 8,215 deaths and they appear to have started flattening their curve, with five successive days down below their peak on March 21.

3.) Dr. Birx also corrected another concern, saying there were enough ICU beds and “significant” ventilators available (even in NY state). She says that while the cases may be concentrated now in urban areas, there were other areas where it was not, and they can adjust to get equipment or patients to where they need to be.

4.) There is “no reality on the ground” where 60% to 70% of Americans will be infected in the next 8 – 12 weeks.

While everyone needs to be careful and be on guard, panic does no good. Please consider what Dr. Birx is saying.

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Please Read: COVID-19 Update Washington County NY

Governor Cuomo has announced that “New York State on PAUSE” plan, takes effect 8 p.m. Sunday, banning all non-essential gatherings of individuals “of any size for any reason.”

Also, all workers should stay home unless they fall into the list of essential businesses.

Washington County Board of Supervisors Chairman Samuel J. Hall has declared a State of Emergency for Washington County, effective as of 2:00 PM on March 16, 2020, and will remain in effect for the next thirty days, or until rescinded. The State of Emergency allows the county to continue facilitating the ongoing response to COVID-19 and to provide the County of Washington and local organizations with the flexibility needed to respond to this imminent threat to public health, safety and quality of life.

Updates can be found here:
http://www.washingtoncountyny.gov/coronavirus

As of 3/22/2020 3:30 pm

There are now 4 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Washington County

None of the identified COVID-19 positive patients are related or from the same household, all are from different geographic areas across the county. During the Public Health investigations, one of the COVID-19 positive patients self-identified as an operator of an in-home daycare facility. Once symptomatic they contacted Public Health and their family doctor for further evaluation and testing and ceased operating the daycare with notification of symptoms to the parents of those in their care. All of those in their care and with close physical contact have been notified and are now registered as PUIs.

While many in our communities would like to know more specific information about the COVID-19 positive patients and their locations, due to privacy regulations coupled with the county’s privacy policy, Washington County will not routinely release specific identifying information about patients (i.e., age, location) unless it aids in the Public Health investigation and identification of additional PUIs. Please remember, the identified PUIs and COVID-19 patients are under quarantine for 14 days from the date of exposure and are not out in the public. Public Health conducts a public health investigation on every COVID-19 positive patient and makes notification to those identified as having close personal contact with a COVID-19 positive patient

Most Washington county offices are closed.

PLEASE NOTE:
Send home or separate anyone who becomes sick.

If you identify a case, inform people who might have been exposed.
Continue to safely clean and disinfect all areas.

If you have been exposed to someone who may be sick, please stay inside and self-quarantine.

There are people in the community with weakened immune systems – please be considerate to all those you encounter. Please use social distancing at all times.

I have spoken to Huletts Landing Fire Chief & Safety Officer, Jay VanderPlaat, who wants people to know that treatment protocols have changed rapidly and that the personal protective required articles are in short supply or are back ordered from the county and/or state. Because of these requirements and the shortage of protective gear, local EMT’s may be unable to respond to COVID-19 or breathing issues and those so afflicted may have to wait for an ambulance during the current emergency.

This is an unprecedented time in the history of our nation, state and Washington County, including Huletts Landing. Please act accordingly.