ALBANY, N.Y. (WROC) — In New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily address to the media, he announced that a third person has died due to the coronavirus. It was a 79-year-old woman who had major underlying health conditions, and coronavirus contributed to her death. He did not mention where the woman was from.
Cuomo says 442 people were tested for COVID-19. That brings the total tested to 5,272 in New York State.
The positive cases of coronavirus in New York State have gone up as well, to 729 cases, of which 137 are in ICU.
Cuomo is asking the federal government for help combating the expected surge of patients in hospitals across the state. Currently, there are 53,000 hospital beds in New York State and 3,000 Intensive Care Unit Beds.
But 80% of ICU beds are already occupied. To free up beds, local hospitals are postponing elective surgeries.
Monroe County confirmed eight new cases, totaling 10 in Monroe County as of Monday morning.
The latest breakdown of positive coronavirus cases looks like this:
- Albany County: 8 (3 new)
- Broome County: 1
- Delaware County: 1
- Dutchess County: 7 (3 new)
- Erie County: 3
- Greene County: 2 (2 new)
- Herkimer County: 1
- Monroe County: 2
- Montgomery County: 1 (1 new)
- Nassau County: 98 (5 new)
- New York City: 329 (29 new)
- Orange County: 6
- Putnam County: 2 (2 new)
- Rockland County: 13
- Saratoga County: 3
- Schenectady County: 2
- Suffolk County: 47 (6 new)
- Tioga County: 1
- Tompkins County: 1
- Ulster County: 5
- Westchester County: 196 (18 new)
Saturday
On Saturday morning, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State had its first death related to coronavirus. The Governor stated that an 82-year-old New York City woman, who had an underlying medical condition, died on Friday.
The number of positive coronavirus cases has gone up across the state by about 100 from Friday. There are now 524 positive cases of coronavirus in the state, and of those, 117 people have been hospitalized. Cuomo reiterated on the call that people shouldn’t be alarmed by the rising numbers, because the more tests that are able to be done, the more positive cases of cornavirus will be found.
Check back with News 8 WROC as we will continue to update this developing story.
Friday
There are now 96 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York, bringing the statewide total to 421.
New York is now No. 1 in the nation in total confirmed cases, surpassing the state of Washington which has 420 confirmed cases.
New York still has 0 deaths related to the coronavirus, Washington has had 31 deaths to date.
Geographic breakdown in NY
Geographic breakdown in USA
NY hospitalization rate
In our area, there is still just the one confirmed case of the virus at this time.
Of the 421 confirmed cases, 50 patients have been hospitalized — 12% of all cases. Of the hospitalizations, 18 are currently in Intensive Care Units.
The governor announced New York state has received approval from the federal government to expand testing capacity. With the new labs, Cuomo says beginning next week, the state will be able to test 6,000 cases per day. To date, the state has conducted 3,260 cases.
“I want to thank the president and the vice president for their receptivity,” Cuomo said.
During the governor’s Friday press conference, Cuomo announced several executive orders.
- Seven day waiting period waived for unemployment insurance for people who are out of work due to the virus
- 180 day school policy waived for schools that need to close for virus concerns
- Public Service Commission to order utility companies to not shut off services for unpaid bills for customers impacted by the virus.
Cuomo said the state would leave the decision to close schools up to the district, but the state policy remains that if a student tests positive, that school closes for 24 hours for cleaning and assessment.
The governor said this virus will be an ongoing matter for the foreseeable future.
“Part of my job is to say to the people of this state what the reality is and what they should expect,” Cuomo said. “First this is not going to be a quick situation — this is going to be weeks, months, this is not going to be gone next week this is not going to return to normal next week this is months so prepare yourself. This is going to be everywhere.”
The governor also said one of his daughters is in precautionary quarantine for 14 days.
“I have to talk myself through the facts,” Cuomo said. “You can’t control coronavirus because you can’t control where people have been or who they have been in contact with.”
Check back with News 8 WROC as we will continue to update this developing story.
Thursday
The governor’s office erroneously reported two confirmed cases of the virus in Monroe County, they have since retracted that number. At this time, there is one confirmed local case.
MORE | Man returning from Italy is 1st in Monroe County to have coronavirus
“I don’t think anyone has said ‘you have to see that line start to turn, all you see is that line still going up,'” Cuomo said. “This is going to get much worse before it gets better, that was always the fact, always the necessary numerical conclusion to this.”
Elsewhere throughout New York, new cases have popped up in Albany, Broome, Delaware, and Dutchess Counties. The geographic breakdown of confirmed cases statewide is as follows:
Late Wednesday night, the first case of the virus was confirmed in Monroe County, prompting the suspension of Saturday’s Rochester St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Since then, many local concerts, sporting events, and gatherings have been cancelled — click here for a complete listing of cancellations.
On a national level, New York is No. 2 in confirmed cases with 325, only behind Washington state’s 338. New York has 0 related deaths at this point due to the virus, and Washing has had 29 deaths to date.
Nationwide there are 1,385 confirmed cases and 37 deaths reported.
Gov. Cuomo said Thursday that among the confirmed cases, 47 patients have been hospitalized — or 14% of those who have contracted the virus.
“Most people who contract the virus will self resolve or be treated at home, that’s about 80% of the people.,” Cuomo said. “For the remainder 20%, you need hospital capacity to handle that number.”
Cuomo also said the state is looking to see if there were any facilities that could be put in an on call situation, in case extra hospital room is needed.
“We want to plan the health system as one health system and coordinate upstate, downstate, worst case scenario. if you run out of capacity downstate, you have upstate capacity.”
Also at Thursday’s press conference, Gov. Cuomo laid out new preventative measures in regards to the spread of the virus. Included in those measures:
- No public gatherings of 500 people or more.
- No non-medical staff or personnel in nursing homes and senior assisted facilities. All staff to wear masks and be monitored for symptoms.
“That’s the nursing home nightmare what happened in Washington and that’s why we’re taking precautions here,” Cuomo said.
The governor also said that there is a possibility that all elective surgery will be suspended if hospitals see a significant surge in patients that need treatment.
Cuomo also announced several Long Island school districts would be closed in Nassau County for an undetermined amount of time.
The governor expressed an urgency when it comes to an increase in testing.
“We need to increase testing as quickly as possible and get the volume as high as possible the more people you can test the more people you can isolate,” Cuomo said.
Similar to press conferences held earlier this week, the governor stressed that fear and hysteria is outpacing the reality in regards to this virus.
“I went through ebola — that was frightening,” Cuomo said. “Ebola was very very very hard to cure and if you got ebola you were in a serious situation. that is not the case here. that’s not what the numbers say that’s not what the data says this is about having the system in place to manage it.
Check back with News 8 WROC as we will continue to update this developing story.
Wednesday March 11, 2020
As of Wednesday’s press conference, New York was No. 2 in the nation with 212 confirmed cases, only behind Washington state’s 279. New York has had 0 deaths related to the virus, compared to Washington’s 24 deaths. Of New York’s 212 cases, 32 of the individuals with the virus have been hospitalized.
Gov. Cuomo began Wednesday’s press conference by saying the state would begin contracting with private labs for additional testing for the virus.
“This will greatly increase our testing capacity as we get these 28 labs up and running,” Cuomo said.
The governor spoke about how other nations have been faster and more thorough with their testing procedures in regards to the virus, specifically comparing the lack of testing to date in the U.S. to the number of tests per day in China and South Korea.
At Wednesday’s press conference, Cuomo also said that SUNY an CUNY will begin implementing “distance learning” for the remainder of the spring semester. This will take effect beginning next week, according to the governor.
MORE | SUNY schools to close March 19, shift to ‘distance learning’ as coronavirus cases continue to climb in NY
Additionally, Cuomo said he spoke with hundreds of business leaders to develop cooperative efforts for the state’s workforce. Efforts include using different work shifts, telecommuting, and working from home.
Cuomo also said all state employees will receive paid leave if they are quarantined, either mandatory quarantine, or precautionary quarantine.
Tuesday March 10, 2020
ALBANY, N.Y. (WROC) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday there is 173 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in New York state.
New York is No. 2 in the country in amount of confirmed cases at this time, behind Washington state’s 179.
Most of the cases are still downstate — in and around New York City, Long Island, and most concentrated in Westchester County. However, there are some confirmed cases in the Hudson Valley as well as Saratoga County in the Capital Region. The City of New Rochelle, in Westchester County, is a particular focus from a public health standpoint.
MORE | Wegmans limiting purchase of toilet paper, cleaning products and more over COVID-19 concerns
“New Rochelle is probably the largest cluster in the United States,” Cuomo said Tuesday.
“Mitigation strategy now,” said New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. “Social distancing, try to minimize that mile radius from the epicenter of New Rochelle.
As a measure to help contain the virus in New Rochelle, the governor announced that in that city, a one mile radius will be established where schools and facilities will be closed. That containment period is tentatively scheduled to be in effect from March 12 through March 25.
Additionally, the governor says the National Guard will be utilized to help deliver food and clean public spaces throughout New Rochelle.
MORE | Student quarantined at SUNY Brockport: ‘Frustrating and upsetting’
At this time, there are no confirmed cases in our immediate local area. SUNY Brockport has been selected as a quarantine host site for students recalled from affected countries.
Test results for a patient at Rochester General Hospital came back negative on Saturday. A Livingston County man in his 40s is in mandatory quarantine, and was tested for the virus, and those results came back negative.
When asked about upstate New York cities canceling upcoming parades, the governor downplayed the risk, saying it’s important to think about where the concentration of cases are happening.
Monday March 9, 2020
ALBANY, N.Y. (WROC) — Gov. Cuomo began his Monday press conference with the debut of NYS Clean-branded hand sanitizer. The governor says the state will be able to produce 100,000 gallons of the hand sanitizer per week and it will be distributed to government agencies, schools, and prisons. Cuomo added that the sanitizer has a scent like a “floral bouquet.”
The governor also said the State Corrections Department’s CorCraft brand name is now producing the hand sanitizer, which will be provided to municipalities and other entities as needed.
MORE | URMC doctor answers all things COVID-19 coronavirus
Following criticism, Gov. Cuomo pointed out Tuesday that the state hand sanitizer is not for sale, and the state is not making a profit from the product, but merely giving it away.
Cuomo reiterated that the public should not panic and that washing hands will help prevent the spread of coronavirus. The governor also said that at-risk groups include senior citizens, people with compromised immune system, and people with underlying sickness. Those groups of people “should take it seriously, they should adjust their interactions,” the governor said.
“Fear and hysteria is outpacing the reality of the situation, but the reality of the situation is that people in these groups should be careful,” Gov. Cuomo said.
The governor also announced, that if a student tests positive, the school which the student attends would be closed for a minimum of 24 hours while assessments are made.
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