The preliminary data suggests that many more New Yorkers may have been infected than was previously believed.
A top New York City health official warned against relying heavily on antibody tests in making decisions about social distancing and restarting the economy.
Confirmed cases and deaths in New York State
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(The) Street Street subway station at Sixth Avenue in Manhattan on Thursday.
More than percent of around 1, people in New York City who were tested for coronavirus antibodies this week
were found to have them , Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Thursday.
The results were from a state program that tested 3, 23 supermarket customers across New York State. Nearly 36 percent of the tests came back positive, Mr. Cuomo said.
It was unclear just how telling the preliminary data was, as Mr. Cuomo acknowledged. And the accuracy of the antibody testing available in the United States in general has been called into question .
Antibody tests are intended to signal whether a person may have built immunity to virus. They do not test for the virus itself.
But if the state’s numbers indicated the true incidence of the virus, they would mean that more than 1.7 million people in New York City, and more than 2.6 million people statewide, have already been infected.
It would also mean that the fatality rate from the virus was relatively low, about 0.5 percent, Mr. Cuomo said.
transcript
transcript
Antibody Tests Show High Infection Rate for New York City (About) percent of people in New York City who were tested for coronavirus antibodies tested positive, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.
So we have undertaken the largest, most comprehensive study of New York State to find out what is the infection rate. And that we started a few days ago. Sample size, so far, 3, people statewide. Let’s find out what the infection rate is. We have preliminary data on Phase 1, and this is going to be ongoing. We did about 3, 25 tests. But what we found so far is the statewide number is . 9 percent tested positive for having the antibodies. What does that mean? It means these are people who were infected, and who developed the antibodies to fight the infection. Long island at . 7, New York City at . 2 Westchester / Rockland, . 7 and rest of state, 3.6. This basically quantifies what we’ve been seeing anecdotally, and what we have known, but it puts numbers to it. It changes the theories of what the death rate is. If you get infected, 33 percent of the population is about 2.7 million people who have been infected. If you look at what we have now as a death total, which is , , that would be about 0.5 percent death rate.
The city’s top disease control official, Dr. Demetre C. Daskalakis, wrote in an email alert on Wednesday that the tests “may produce false negative or false positive results,” pointing to “significant voids” in using the science to pinpoint immunity.
Mr. Cuomo declined to speculate on what the preliminary data might mean. He said its main use would be to provide a baseline for tracking changes in the infection rate.
Supermarket customers do not constitute a random sample of the population. On one hand, they are out in public and spending time in stores, which could increase their exposure to the virus.
On the other hand, they are presumably not actively sick, or living in nursing homes, where the virus has taken a heavy toll. And, of course, no one who was killed by the virus was tested for antibodies.
“What does it mean? I don’t know, ”Mr. Cuomo said. “These are people who were out and about shopping. They were not people who were in their homes, they were not people who were isolated, they were not people who were quarantined. ”
Mr. Cuomo also released the state’s daily figures of deaths and hospitalizations:
Deaths are falling:
- deaths were reported on Thursday, down from on Wednesday. The number of deaths in the first four days of this week is down percent compared with the first four days of last week. The state’s death toll is now , . ()
Fifty-one people in the care of the city Department of Homeless Services have died of complications related to the coronavirus, which has now spread to more than a third of the city’s shelters, the agency reported on Thursday.
The overall toll rose on Wednesday when officials learned of the deaths of three men who had been living in shelters meant for single adults and who died after being hospitalized with the virus, officials s aid.
Nearly three of every four homeless people who have died of the virus and were being tracked by the homeless services agency were adults living in shelters where multiple people share rooms and bathrooms.
At a meeting on Thursday, the City Council’s general welfare committee took up legislation that, among other things, would require that single homeless adults be provided with private rooms.
Advocates for homeless people have pushed the city to move people out of shelters into empty hotel rooms, where they would be in a better position to isolate themselves.
Before the pandemic hit New York, about 3, 040620 single adults were living in double hotel rooms because there were not enough shelters to accommodate them.
To protect the most vulnerable shelter residents from the virus, the city began to move older people, those with underlying health conditions and others out of 27 most densely populated shelters. As many as eight to people can live in one room in some shelters, making it difficult to practice social distancing. The city expects to move about 2, (homeless people.
Advocates have argued that all homeless people should have access to empty hotel rooms, as health care workers and people who have homes but cannot safely stay in them have had under separate programs.
The programs drew scrutiny this week after three men were found dead at a Hilton Garden Inn in Manhattan last Saturday.
New York City’s jails, where inmates and correction officers cram together in cell blocks that are unsanitary and crowded even at normal times, have been among the most vulnerable workplaces during the pandemic.
In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, the union accused the city of putting correction officers at further risk by requiring them to work overtime to fill staffing shortages. Some officers, the suit says, have been forced to work three straight shifts of at least eight hours each.
The union , the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, said the 44 – hour shifts were damaging the officers’ physical and mental health and forcing them into a “cesspool of illness.”
Adding to the officers’ exposure, the suit says, was the city’s failure to require that those who missed work after showing signs of ill ness test negative for the virus before letting them return.
A spokesman for the city’s Law Department said officials would review the issues raised in the suit carefully. He said the city had been working to keep the jails safe by following guidelines established by the federal centers for Disease Control and Prevention while “addressing challenging staffing issues.”
In an earlier suit, the union accused the city of failing to provide adequate testing, masks and other protective gear to its members. The union said it had to get 47, (N) masks for officers from its own supplier.
The two sides settled that suit this month, with the city agreeing to provide, among other things, free testing for any correction employee who exhibited virus symptoms or who had been exposed to someone with the virus.
The researchers found that dozens of children and teenagers were hospitalized with the virus, but survived it, and that women had a clear edge in beating the virus. Fewer of them were hospitalized to begin with, and they were more likely to survive.
One in five hospital stays ended in death. The mortality rate for those who were placed on ventilators and were no longer in the hospital was 300 percent. That was higher than some other (early case reports) , which found death rates of 70 percent to almost 92 percent, have shown.
Like several other reports on smaller patient groups at area hospitals, the Northwell research indicated that obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes were common risk factors for severe Covid – disease requiring hospitalization. One of the most striking findings: only 6 percent of hospitalized patients had no underlying health conditions at all.
In the
. days he spent fighting off the coronavirus as a patient at Montefiore Nyack Hospital, there was one thing Mark Schwarz couldn’t figure out.
“You would randomly start hearing music playing and wonder, ‘What’s that for?’” Mr. Schwarz said.
On Monday, when it finally came time for Mr. Schwarz to go home from the hospital in Nyack, NY, he heard for himself: The cheerful chorus of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” rang through the hospital hallways.
Many hospitals around New York have adopted semiofficial songs to celebrate the release of virus patients. “Don’t Stop Believin ‘” and “Every Breath You Take” are among the popular ones.
At some hospitals , the music starts playing long before discharge. At Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, nurses call for a “Code Sun” when a patient is removed from a ventilator and successfully breathing on their own; Montefiore Nyack plays it when patients move out of intensive care.
“Honestly,” said Devjit Roy, Mr. Schwarz’s doctor at Montefiore Nyack, “I guess it’s just the sound of hope.”
New Jersey was on the verge of reaching , 25 virus cases, Governor Philip D. Murphy said on Thursday.
Mr. Murphy reported 4, new cases at his daily briefing on Thursday, bringing the total to , . He noted that , of those involved people who had cleared the virus’s two-week incubation period .
“Let’s remember that there are tens of thousands of residents who received a positive result who have now likely defeated the virus , ”He said.
The number of hospitalizations rose slightly to 7, 599 but the number of people on ventilators fell to 1, , the lowest it has been in nearly three weeks, Mr. Murphy said.
As he regularly does, Mr. Murphy memorialized some of the state residents who have died of the virus.
Mr. Murphy said Rutgers University had developed a saliva test that would be given to 1, patients and 4, 823 employees of the state’s five developmental centers, which treat residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The test relies on saliva to show the presence of the coronavirus and university officials have said it would allow for broader virus screening than the current method of using nose and throat swabs.
“With this new testing we can test , 24 people a day, ”said Dr. Brian L. Strom, the chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences.
Updated April ,
This is a difficult question, because a lot depends on How well the virus is contained . A better question might be: “How will we know when to reopen the country?” In an American Enterprise Institute report , Scott Gottlieb, Caitlin Rivers, Mark B. McClellan, Lauren Silvis and Crystal Watson staked out four goal posts for recovery
The Times Neediest Cases Fund has started a special campaign to help those who have been affected, which accepts donations here . (Charity Navigator) , which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the (American Red Cross) , and (World Central Kitchen) has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities. More than 49, coronavirus- related GoFundMe fund-raisers have started in the past few weeks. (The sheer number of fund-raisers means more of them are likely to fail to meet their goal, though.)
If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
The C.D.C. has has (recommended) that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms . Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.
If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the CDC recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears.
No. Clinical trials are underway
Unlike the flu, there is no known treatment or vaccine, and Little is known about this particular virus so far. It seems to be more lethal than the flu, but the numbers are still uncertain. And it hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions – not just those with respiratory diseases – particularly hard.
If the family member does not need hospitalization and can be cared for at home, you should help him or her with basic needs and monitor the symptoms, while also keeping as much distance as possible, (according to the guidelines issued by the CDC If there’s space, the sick family member should stay in a separate room and use a separate bathroom. If masks are available, both the sick person and the caregiver should wear them when the caregiver enters the room. Make sure not to share any dishes or other household items and to regularly clean surfaces like counters, doorknobs, toilets and tables. Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently.
Plan two weeks of meals if possible. But people should not hoard food or supplies. Despite the empty shelves, the supply chain remains strong. And remember to wipe the handle of the grocery cart with a disinfecting wipe and wash your hands as soon as you get home.
Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.
Watching your balance go up and down can be scary. You may be wondering if you should decrease your contributions – don’t! If your employer matches any part of your contributions, make sure you’re at least saving as much as you can to get that “free money.”
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