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Post by Admin on Mar 7, 2020 18:33:29 GMT
Watch live coverage as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo holds a coronavirus press briefing. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the number of novel coronavirus cases surge across the US.
Twenty more people in New York have tested positive for coronavirus, Cuomo said Saturday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 76.
Cuomo said there are 11 confirmed cases in New York City, 57 in Westchester County, two in Rockland County, four in Nassau County, and two in Saratoga County.
Officials have reported 312 cases of coronavirus and 17 deaths across the US as of Saturday. Florida reported the first death on the East Coast on Friday and a number of new cases along with Georgia on Saturday. Meanwhile, 21 people on board the Grand Princess, a cruise ship docked off the coast of California, have tested positive for the virus.
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Post by Admin on Mar 11, 2020 2:28:32 GMT
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a one-mile (1.6km) coronavirus "containment zone" around a town north of New York City. New Rochelle has seen "probably the largest cluster" of US cases, he said. National Guard troops will be used to clean schools in the town and deliver food to any quarantined individuals. The death toll in Italy, one of the countries worst hit by the virus, rose to 631 as the authorities placed the whole country in lockdown. The latest increase in deaths in Italy - 168 - is the biggest the country has recorded in a single day, and the total number of cases went from 9,172 to 10,149.
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Post by Admin on Mar 15, 2020 18:21:32 GMT
The New York Times published an op-ed piece that was written by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo calling on comprehensive federal action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dear Mr. President,
The coronavirus pandemic is now upon us, and data from other countries shows us clearly where we are headed.
Every country affected by this crisis has handled it on a national basis. The United States has not. State and local governments alone simply do not have the capacity or resources to do what is necessary, and we don’t want a patchwork quilt of policies.
There is now only one question your team must answer for you: Can we slow the spread of the disease to a rate that our state health care systems can handle? The answer increasingly looks like no.
But that does not mean we should not try. There are fewer options available at this late date, but the federal government should move to implement them swiftly. There are three clear imperatives we need to address:
Testing
Slowing the spread of coronavirus is a function of testing and reducing the density of public gatherings. So first, Mr. President, you must stop the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from overregulating the testing process, and authorize states to certify a wider array of testing labs and methods.
On Friday, you said that your administration had agreed to allow New York State’s public health department to authorize local labs to perform the state’s approved coronavirus test — a good first step. Your administration also approved high-volume automated testing by the Swiss diagnostics maker Roche.
But these moves are insufficient. Because of the high demand for testing kits nationwide, many labs with Roche machines will be unable to obtain enough of the company’s testing kits for weeks or even months. There are other labs that can do high-volume coronavirus tests that do not use Roche kits. But these machines cannot be used without further F.D.A. approvals, of the sort Roche received on Friday.
That means that while New York is conducting thousands of tests a day, we are still below our full testing capacity because many labs still rely on low-volume manual testing.
Mr. Trump, don’t let bureaucracy get in the way of fighting this virus. Break the logjam, let states fully take over testing so they can unleash hundreds of labs tomorrow and bring testing to scale. It is the only way we will have a chance of keeping up with the rapid spread of this contagion.
Closings
Second, the closing of schools and businesses has federal implications, even if these are state or local decisions. When one state unilaterally closes businesses, people typically cross state lines to look for open businesses elsewhere. If the purpose is to keep our citizens home and out of crowded spaces, such inconsistency in state policies is counterproductive. There should be a uniform federal standard for when cities and states should shut down commerce and schools, or cancel events.
All of this disruption will have immense financial and economic impact, and federal assistance will be needed to soften the blow. When schools close, localities will need help to provide meal programs to students and child-care programs to parents. Unemployment will skyrocket, as will insurance, health care and education costs.
The federal government must not only make aid available, it must also ensure that its assistance is distributed in clear, uniform ways. No state should be penalized for doing the right thing in trying to protect its residents during this crisis.
Risks to hospitals
Third, you must anticipate that, without immediate action, the imminent failure of hospital systems is all but certain. According to one projection, as many as 214 million people in our country could be infected over the course of the epidemic. Of those, as many as 21 million people could require hospitalization.
This would crush the nation’s medical system. New York State has just 53,470 hospital beds, only 3,186 of which are intensive-care beds. Our country as a whole has fewer than one million staffed hospital beds, fewer proportionately than China, South Korea or Italy.
Ask your experts, how many intensive-care beds do we need for our vulnerable populations, and how many do we have now? The scarcity portends a greater failing and a worse situation than what we are seeing in Italy, where lives are being lost because the country doesn’t have the health care capacity.
States cannot build more hospitals, acquire ventilators or modify facilities quickly enough. At this point, our best hope is to utilize the Army Corps of Engineers to leverage its expertise, equipment and people power to retrofit and equip existing facilities — like military bases or college dormitories — to serve as temporary medical centers. Then we can designate existing hospital beds for the acutely ill.
We believe the use of active duty Army Corps personnel would not violate federal law because this is a national disaster. Doing so still won’t provide enough intensive care beds, but it is our best hope.
In short: Localize testing, federalize shutdowns and task the Army Corps of Engineers to expand hospital capacity.
I make these suggestions not as a Democrat but as one of the nation’s most senior governors and a former cabinet secretary who knows the capacity of the federal government.
We have had disagreements about your actions against New York, which we can pursue at another time. Today, let’s work together as Americans. Time is short.
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Post by Admin on Mar 15, 2020 22:32:44 GMT
As U.S. cases of the coronavirus climb well past 3,000, New York City announced on Sunday it will close public schools on Monday, and states and cities are ordering bars and restaurants to close in an effort to encourage social distancing and try to stem the outbreak. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday evening that Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk and New York City schools will close this week. Cuomo also said in a statement that New York City must put a plan in place to make sure children who rely on school meals will still get fed and parents, especially health care workers and first responders, will be provided childcare. In a press conference on Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said schools will close Monday and remain closed at least until April 20. The mayor said there is a chance schools could remain closed for the rest of the school year. The announcement comes after widespread calls to close the schools and "furious" teachers who thought it was irresponsible to keep schools open. "It is time to take more dramatic measures," the mayor said, adding he knows "the full cost of shutting our schools." The decision comes on a day where states and cities across the country took more dramatic measures to try to contain the new coronavirus.
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Post by Admin on Mar 16, 2020 21:25:23 GMT
President Trump announced on Monday a set of guidelines that he said Americans should follow to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus -- despite admitting that the pandemic could stretch into July or August. Speaking during a briefing of the coronavirus task force, Trump outlined a plan to slow the spread of COVID-19 in 15 days. “With several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly,” Trump said. “Our government is prepared to do whatever it takes.” At another point during the news conference, asked if the U.S. was headed into a recession, Trump replied: “Well, it may be.” But then, he said, “We're not thinking in terms of recession, we're thinking in terms of the virus.” The guidelines advised that older people and those with underlying health conditions “stay home and away from other people.” Officials recommended that large swaths of the population isolate themselves and everyone avoid social gatherings or groups of more than 10 people. They also said Americans should work from home if possible; avoid eating or drinking in bars and restaurants; and “avoid discretionary travel, shopping trips, and social visits.”
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