Fast Facts:
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New York state will make an additional $600 payment now to all who filed for unemployment
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The state is also extending the period covered by unemployment benefits for another 13 weeks for a total of 39 weeks
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All state flags will be flown at half-staff to honor those who died from COVID-19
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Number of deaths in the state rose from 5,489 to 6,268
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said today that it appears as if the efforts at social distancing and economic shutdown in New York have managed to flatten the curve in the rise of COVID-19 cases, but he could not say whether the state has reached the apex of the epidemic.
For a second day, Cuomo did not present statistics regarding testing and the number of cases identified in each county. He did, however, report that another 779 people died between yesterday and today, raising the number of deaths in New York to 6,268. Cuomo noted that the Word Trade Center attack on 9/11 resulted in 2,753 deaths.
“I went through 9/11. I thought in my lifetime I wouldn’t have to see anything like that again,” Cuomo said. “Nothing that bad. Nothing that tragic. I remember the number of funerals after 9/11. I remember the grief after 9/11. That this should literally eclipse that in terms of numbers of dead in this state, it’s almost unimaginable.”
Cuomo said that the daily death tolls can be expected to rise as the condition of patients who have been in hospitals for long periods continues to decline. He noted that 562 people died on April 2 compared with the 779 who passed away on April 7.
Cuomo said there was a dip in the number of new hospitalizations with 586 admitted on April 7 compared with 656 on April 6, 1,095 on April 3 and 1,427 on April 2.
Statistics from the state Department of Health showed that as of yesterday there were 304 deaths in Westchester due to COVID-19, with 283 of the deceased being residents of the county.
There were nine Rockland residents who died outside of the county and 90 deaths recorded within Rockland’s borders for total of 99 attributed to Rockland. Orange County had 57 deaths, 53 of whom were county residents. In Dutchess, 15 deaths were recorded, all of the victims being residents of the county. In Putnam, 13 deaths were recorded with three Putnam residents dying elsewhere.
Cuomo said that he has been in discussions with other governors about the National Governors Association forming a buying consortium to supply the future needs of states for medical and other supplies and equipment in view of President Trump’s position that the federal government is not a “shipping clerk” for the states and they are not entitled to think of federal government stockpiles as resources for them.
New York state will send an additional $600 payment to those people who have filed for unemployment compensation. He expects that the federal government will reimburse the state. He also said that instead of being limited to 26 weeks, unemployment benefits will now be paid for 39 weeks.
Cuomo said that anyone who wants to can vote by mail in the upcoming June 23 primary through the use of an absentee ballot. He said he has issued an executive order covering that and was sharply critical of other states that have forced voters and poll workers to risk their health by requiring them to show up at a polling place during an epidemic instead of allowing voting by mail.
Cuomo thanked Mercury Medical, a manufacturer of medical devices in Clearwater, Florida, for donating 2,400 of its BiPAP machines to New York state. JetBlue flew the machines to New York at no cost. BiPAP devices are being used as substitutes for ventilators. He also thanked Oregon, Washington state and California for supplying ventilators to New York.
Cuomo paid tribute to health care workers and others who contracted the virus and died.
“They were putting themselves at risk and they knew they were, many of them vulnerable people who this vicious predator of a virus targeted from day one,” Cuomo said. He showed photos of some first responders and others whose lives were lost. One was former Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Greenburgh, whose family reported today that he had died at age 73 after showing symptoms of COVID-19. He had been tested for the virus but the results of the test had not come back at the time of his passing. Brodsky also served on the Westchester County Board of Legislators. He was an attorney and had been with the White Plains-based Oxman Law Group.
Cuomo said that research is needed to figure out why the rate of COVID-19 infections seems to be higher among Latino and African-American populations. He said, for example, Hispanics, which account for 11% of the population, have experienced 14% of the deaths. He called on Havidan Rodriguez, president of SUNY Albany, to work with Northwell Health and the state Department of Health to research the matter.
Cuomo said he is directing that flags at all state facilities be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims of the pandemic.
