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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.

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State Plastic Bag Ban Begins

New York state has implemented, as of March 1, 2020, the New York State Plastic Bag Waste Reduction Act. New Yorkers were using approximately 23 billion plastic bags per year, with approximately 85% of this total ending up int the trash, recycling machines, lakes and highways.

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DEC Statewide Forest Ranger Rescue Near Lake George

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents statewide. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations, and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured, or distressed people from the backcountry.

On Feb. 23 at 7:53 p.m., Warren County 911 transferred a call to DEC’s Ray Brook Dispatch from two hikers on the Northwest Bay Trail. The hikers started their hike that morning and one of them, a 36-year-old male from Selden, was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. Coordinates obtained through 911 placed the hikers about four miles from the Clay Meadows Trail. Forest Ranger Evan Donegan responded, along with the Bolton Landing Fire Department and their airboat. At 8:31 p.m., the responders were on Lake George and heading to the hikers’ last known location. They were located at 9:23 p.m., returned to shore, and hiked back out to the trailhead.

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Stec Receives Endorsement of Washington County GOP

Assemblyman Dan Stec (R,C,I-Queensbury) today announced another crucial endorsement in his campaign for State Senate. The Washington County Republican Committee has now officially backed his candidacy to succeed retiring Senator Betty Little as the representative for the 45th District.

In announcing his party’s overwhelming support for Stec, Washington County Republican Committee Chairman Dan Boucher cited the Assemblyman’s proven record and experience in advocating for Washington County families and small businesses.

“Thank you to the Washington County Republican Party for endorsing my Senate campaign,” Stec said. “During my time as an Assemblyman, I’ve proudly worked with and for Washington County seniors, families and job creators. The county is home to some of the hardest working, most dedicated residents in the state and as our next State Senator, I will continue to work tirelessly on their behalf.”

“Dan Stec is the clear choice for State Senate,” said Chairman Dan Boucher. “Since 2013, Dan has served the parts of Washington County he represents with distinction. He’s committed to helping our communities and has proven himself to be a strong defender of our values. Dan Stec will be a great Senator for the 45th District.”

The 45th Senate District is comprised of all or part of six different counties. Assemblyman Stec has been officially received the official endorsement from the Republican Committees in five of the six: Washington, Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Warren. He is also supported by the St. Lawrence and Warren County Conservative Parties – as well as the recipient of endorsements from dozens of state and local elected officials in all six counties.

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Stec Announces State Senate Candidacy


After announcing his plan this week to run for the state Senate, Assemblyman Dan Stec (R,C,I-Queensbury) met with all six Republican County Chairs that comprise the 45th Senate District. Left to right seated – Franklin Co GOP Chair Shelley Mulverhill, Assemblyman Dan Stec, Essex Co GOP Chair John Gereau, Standing are – Warren Co GOP Chair Mike Grasso, Washington Co GOP Chair Dan Boucher, St Lawrence Co GOP Chair Tom Jenison.

Assemblyman Dan Stec (R,C,I-Queensbury) has announced his candidacy for the state Senate’s 45th District. Senator Betty Little announced she’ll be stepping down in 2020 after serving 25 years in the Legislature. Stec, who has worked closely with Senator Little both as an Assemblyman and as a local elected official, has the experience and proven record necessary to ensure North Country residents continue receiving honest, accountable leadership in the Senate.

Stec issued the following statement on his campaign for Senate:

“I’m proud to announce my candidacy today for state Senate. With the news of Senator Little’s retirement, it’s so important that we elect someone that understands the issues we face, and has the experience and record of fighting on our behalf.

“My top priorities have always been defending our values and fighting for common-sense solutions to the challenges we face. This is why I’ve partnered with local law enforcement to oppose the bail reforms instituted by Senate and Assembly Democrats. It’s why I opposed giving drivers’ licenses, ‘free’ college tuition to illegal immigrants and other initiatives that put the rights of criminals before the well-being of our communities.

“As an Assemblyman, I helped pass the first countywide EMS bill for Essex County – the first of its kind in the state. I championed the constitutional amendment to strip pensions from corrupt politicians and shepherded three other constitutional amendments that were important to the residents of the North Country. I have and will continue to make investments in important infrastructure like roads, water, sewer, broadband and cell service critical to our economy and public safety a high priority.

“This is the proven record of advocacy and accomplishment I want to bring to the state Senate. With one-party control, we need someone who will push back against the radical liberal tax-and spend agenda that crushes our communities. We need someone who will work to achieve solutions to our problems that reflect our needs and values. We need someone who will continue Senator Little’s strong legacy as an honest, hardworking elected official.

“As our next state Senator, that’s exactly what I will do.”

The 45th Senate District includes all of Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Warren Counties, as well as parts of St. Lawrence and Washington Counties. Stec’s Assembly District comprises the entirety of Warren and Essex Counties, as well as the northern parts of Saratoga and Washington Counties. He was elected to represent the district in 2012. Prior to his becoming Assemblyman, Stec was the Queensbury Town Supervisor and Chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

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Senator Little Will Not Seek Re-Election


State Senator Betty Little announcing that she will not run for re-election.

State Senator Betty Little today announced she will not seek re-election and will retire from the Senate at the completion of her term on December 31, 2020. Little has represented the 45th District since 2003 and previously served seven years in the State Assembly.

“Although it is very difficult for me to contemplate stepping away from the public service that I love so much, it’s time,” said Little. “Being able to do this work for so many years has been the greatest honor. I’ve not taken one moment of it for granted.

“Representing a vast district comprising six counties, two cities, 83 towns, 20 villages and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe at Akwesasne, I have had a very unique perspective to learn a lot about this region and gotten to know many good people working hard to make better lives for themselves, their families and their communities. As a state representative, I’ve always felt the best I can do is to complement those efforts. Whether it has been through legislation, or funding for so many different and important initiatives and projects, being in a position to help has been so rewarding.

“And, certainly, a lot of this work is about assisting people with their own personal issues. The hands-on constituent work is quiet, behind the scenes advocacy that, for the individual helped, can mean the world. I only wish I could do more.”

Little’s career in public office began in 1986 when she was elected to the Warren County Board of Supervisors. In 1995, she was elected in a special election to represent the 109th Assembly District. When Senator Ron Stafford announced his retirement in 2002, Little ran for and won the State Senate seat in November that year and has been reelected eight times since.

Over the past 19 years in the Senate, Little sponsored 322 new chapters of law. These include measures to protect private property rights by raising the standard for making an adverse possession claim; protect environmentally sensitive grasslands; combat invasive species; and raise awareness of pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS).

Little said her greatest legislative achievement has been the approval of five State Constitutional amendments to address matters specific to the Adirondack Park. Each amendment required passage by two separately elected Legislatures and then approval by voters on a statewide ballot.

“Amending the State Constitution isn’t taken lightly and convincing my colleagues in Albany this was necessary required a lot of work,” said Little. “In each instance, it took a tremendous amount of collaboration, cooperation and persistence. I commend our local officials, environmental groups and all others who worked on these amendments for their willingness to keep pushing to reach an agreement and to encourage the necessary support of voters across New York State.”

The mother of military sons, Little has been a strong advocate for servicemen and women, sponsoring Patriot Plans I and II to provide various benefits to active-duty military personnel and their families.

Little also spearheaded the effort to create a Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission and sponsored legislation to protect the childhood home of Susan B. Anthony in the Town of Greenwich.

During her tenure, Little served as chair of the Senate’s Local Government, Tourism and Cultural Arts and Housing Committees and as a member of the Senate Rules and Finance Committees. She is now the ranking Republican on the Senate Education Committee.

Little is a long-time resident of Queensbury. She was born and raised in Glens Falls, attended St. Mary’s Academy and is a graduate of the College of St. Rose with a degree in Elementary Education. She taught on Staten Island and in the Queensbury School District before starting a family. She has six children and 18 grandchildren.

“With the year ahead of me and not having to focus on re-election, I will do all I can on behalf of those I am honored to represent,” said Little. “I plan to spend a lot of time travelling throughout the district and am hopeful for a productive session in Albany. Who knows what will follow when I retire at the end of next year, but I look forward to staying active, engaged and busy and being helpful wherever and whenever I can,” Little said.

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Smokey Bear Turns 75, Still Teaching About Forest Fires

August 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the launch of the Smokey Bear Wildlife Prevention campaign by the U.S. Forest Service. The iconic character was created by the U.S. Forest Service as it’s mascot and modeled after a small cub rescued from a wildfire in New Mexico. It has become a symbol for forest fire prevention. Smokey’s catchphrase, “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires” is readily understandable to all.