Coronavirus: State Sen. Anna Kaplan Issues March 21 Update

Press release from the Village of Port Washington North:

March 22, 2020

With so much news coming out every day about the coronavirus, and the impact it has on our lives here in Nassau County, it's important that we all stay informed, and that we all know how we can be part of the solution.

I've been posting daily updates on my social media, and many people have requested I also send an email update for members of our community, which you are reading now.

As always, if I can be of any assistance to you or your family, please don't hesitate to contact my office at any time: (516) 746-5924, or email kaplan@nysenate.gov

Sincerely,

Senator Anna M. Kaplan

Saturday 3/21 Update

Nassau County continues to see the number of positive confirmed cases increase at a fast rate, which is exactly what we expect considering New York is testing so many people every day. We continue to test more people per capita than any other state, and even more than China and South Korea. The number of new cases doesn’t necessarily indicate that the virus is spreading any faster, it is just a reflection of tests to confirm cases that couldn’t be counted because they weren’t tested. We have now completed over 45,000 tests, compared to less than 24,000 in California and Washington state.

Nassau County now has 1,234 confirmed cases, and there are 10,356 in all of New York State. Tragically, there have been 3 new deaths in Nassau County, bringing that total to 7.

If you have symptoms, contact the NYS Coronavirus Hotline at 888-364-3065 and they will assess your symptoms and set up an appointment for testing if your situation falls under the criteria for testing. Unfortunately, there still just not enough tests to give one to everyone who wants one, so appointments are still required and calling the hotline is your best route if you think you might be sick.

The main goal here continues to be reducing spread and protecting the vulnerable populations, like people over 70 years old, people with compromised immune systems and people with other underlying health conditions, particularly respiratory conditions. If we can reduce the spread over the course of several months, we can help our health system to keep up with the influx of high need patients, which is approximately 15-20% of those who are infected by the virus. Estimates currently show that there is a potential for 40-80% of the US population eventually being infected by the virus, so it’s absolutely critical that we don’t overwhelm the health system or we may find ourselves forced to make horrendous decisions about who is treated and who isn’t. This is something we never want to see happen in New York, and it’s why we ALL must do our part to slow the spread.

New York is continuing to work with hospitals to re-configure existing facilities to be able to hold more beds and treat more individuals at once, and Governor Cuomo will be finalizing a list of locations today for the Army Corps of Engineers to begin building temporary hospitals. The main locations under final consideration right now include the Javits Center, SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Old Westbury, and the Westchester Convention Center. We’ve asked the Army Corp to provide 4 field hospitals in addition to the construction of temporary hospitals, and each of the field hospitals will hold approximately 250 beds apiece. The addition of these facilities will provide significant additional regional capacity, and once again I’d like to commend Governor Cuomo, the President, and the Army Corps of Engineers for working together to prioritize the construction of these facilities.

New York State is literally scouring the globe looking for additional medical supplies, and so far we’ve been able to secure over 2 million face masks, 500,000 of which are being sent to Long Island TODAY. We’ve been gathering surplus and underutilized ventilators from every facility across the state, and we are purchasing an additional 6,000 ventilators to add to the supply in reserve. And because we’re trying everything right now in the hopes of useful breakthroughs, we are currently examining the possibility of converting ventilators to function for more than one patient at a time, which would be a game-changer if we can pull it off. We’re also in the process of converting apparel manufacturers to begin making face masks, and there has been an overwhelming response to the state’s call for additional manufacturers and other unrelated businesses to begin making these critical supplies. Anyone else interested in heeding the call can contact covid19supplies@exec.ny.gov to connect with the Governor’s office. To all who have answered this call to help New York, THANK YOU!

The federal government has issued a federal disaster declaration, which allows FEMA to assist New York financially; but we’re still on the hook for 25% of that bill. Given the extraordinary cost that New York is facing in this situation, we are asking the federal government to waive that cost. This is something that FEMA typically will do in other cases, and we are hopeful that FEMA will approve this request in this instance.

Many of you may have seen that the President is ordering the federal government to proceed with aggressive testing of the drugs hydroxychloroquine and Zithromax as a potential combo-treatment for coronavirus. New Yorks Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker is recommending we begin these trials right away here in NY, and we are asking the FDA to accelerate the delivery of 10,000 doses to New York so we can begin testing them out.

NYS is currently working with Regeneron, a New York based company, on some therapies and treatments that are showing promising results in lab tests, and we have exempted them from the workforce reduction mandates so that they can continue working on these potentially groundbreaking treatments.

Governor Cuomo signed an executive order today to give relief to individuals whose driver’s license or vehicle registration expired after March 1 so that you don’t have to stress and worry about renewing them during the crisis. If your license or registration expired after March 1, 2020, you will not be penalized for not renewing until this order is lifted, and it will be in place for the duration of this crisis.

Additionally, the Governor signed another executive order this afternoon to suspend the state’s law requiring company boards to hold in-person shareholder meetings. Traditionally, April and May is when these in-person meetings are held, and many of the nation’s largest companies are based here in New York.

I’ve said it before, but it certainly bears repeating: stress and anxiety are huge for everyone right now. In order to help fellow New Yorkers deal with the difficult emotions we’re all experiencing right now, the state is seeking to set up a voluntary network of mental health professionals to provide remote assistance to New Yorkers struggling with isolation and the difficult emotions that come with it. If you are interested in volunteering your time to help your neighbors, please visit health.ny.gov/assistance. Thank you in advance to all who heed this call.

It’s important right now for us all to realize that there are a lot of rumors out there, and we need to do our very best to sort out rumor from reality. The reality is that, despite the rumors, our food distribution, transit, pharmacies, and other essential services are all functioning normally. There will never be a roadblock in front of your house that says you can’t drive down the street. The Governor is in charge of any order that could potentially restrict movement, and he has been extremely clear that he is not going to do that. Specifically, since there have been lots of rumors about NYC shutting down, I want to point out that the Mayor of New York – even if he wanted to – could not shut down the city. This is under the Governor’s authority, and he’s been very clear. The governor is also offering that any New Yorker who is concerned about something they may have heard, can go to coronavirus.health.ny.gov to ask your question and get a real answer from the Governors team.

Currently, half of NYS cases are between ages 18-49. Those in that category can not only get sick, die, or develop potentially serious long-term health consequences, but you can transmit it to every person you come in contact with. When we talk about social distancing, that means everyone, everywhere. There have been extremely disturbing instances of people here in our community, adults, children, and everyone in between – who have been going out and playing sports in parks together. THIS IS DANGEROUS FOR EVERYONE. No one of us is Superman or Superwoman—we need to be socially responsible. It’s not only important for us individually, its important for the health of the entire community.

If we allow our children to go play sports in a park and just one of them is carrying this virus, each one of those kids could end up bringing the virus home to their parents and grandparents, and who knows if their parents and grandparents will survive? We can’t take chances like this-there is no excuse for it.

Attorney General Letitia James’ office is closely monitoring the treatment of employees across the state as the workforce reduction mandates go into effect, and she’s publicized a hotline and email address for anyone to report a violation of existing state labor laws or any recent executive orders that are potentially putting workers in harms way. The phone number is 212-416-8700 and the email is labor.bureau@ag.ny.gov

I’d like to take a moment to thank our everyday heroes: healthcare workers, grocery store workers, pharmacists, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, call center operators, public transit workers, childcare workers and other essential workers who are doing public service while displaying quiet bravery and grace in the face of uncertainty Thank you, to each and every one of you.

The governor made a very poignant argument today: We are all first responders right now – our actions can save or endanger a life. We know we will get through this if we all work together, but we have to be committed to this for the long-haul. We may be in this position for several months, and we need to work together to make it through. It’s on all of us. We can shorten the period of time that we’re all in this situation if we all follow the rules and comply with social distancing. It’s literally in our hands.

If I can be of any assistance to you or your family, remember you can contact my office at 516-746-5924, or email kaplan@nysenate.gov . My staff and I are here to serve you, and we are happy to help however we can.

These are trying times, and we are all feeling the burden of our present situation. Let’s remember to always practice kindness and patience with one another. New York has always risen to the occasion in the face of unbelievable adversity, and I have faith that we will do it again.

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This press release was produced by the Village of Port Washington North. The views expressed here are the author's own.