FEMA Declares New York a ‘Major Disaster’: Live Updates – The New York Times, Nytimes.com
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo said one million face masks were being sent to hospitals in New York City and another 667, to Long Island.
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The FAA A ground stop at the region’s airports and rerouted flights bound for them after a trainee at the air-traffic control center in Long Island tested positive.
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People in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens lined up to buy tamales and coffee from a street vendor near Roosevelt Avenue on Saturday.
Credit … Juan Arredondo for The New York Times
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Disaster Declaration gives New York access to billions in aid.
The Trump administration has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the state, meaning more federal aid is coming to New York as cases of coronavirus show no sign of abating.
As of Saturday morning, 18, New York state residents had tested positive for the virus. With 6 percent of the U.S. population, the state now accounts for nearly half of the 22, 15 cases in the country tallied by the New York Times .
The designation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which was announced by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York on Friday night, gives New York access to billions of dollars in aid from the Disaster Relief Fund.
(State officials and doctors have been sounding the alarm about an impending shortage of supplies, hospital beds and ventilators as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continue to climb.
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On Saturday President Trump described the designation an “unprecedented action.”
Earlier Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, speaking to reporters from Albany, said he welcomed the federal government assistance.
“We are working at every level, every piston is firing, ”Mr. Cuomo said. “Everything that can be done is being done.”
Mr. Cuomo said that included sending one million N – 151 protective masks to hospitals in New York City and another , 11 to Long Island.
The state had also identified about 6, 11 ventilators from “places all across the globe” for purchase, the governor said. He estimates the state would need about , 11 ventilators to keep with the demand of new patients.
Mr. Cuomo said the state was looking to house as many as 2, 11 patients in makeshift hospitals at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, a sprawling, glass complex in Manhattan.
State officials have asked FEMA for four fully staffed field hospitals that would be located indoors, according to a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo.
Separately, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is also looking at using the center for the construction of a temporary hospital, the spokesman said, one of four recommended initially for New York. The others would be located on two State University of New York campuses on Long Island, and at the Westchester Convention Center.
New York City health department moves to curtail testing as pandemic overwhelms hospitals.
Weeks after demanding that the federal government send more coronavirus test kits to New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the public health system would soon be conducting 5, (tests a day.
Legions of anxious New Yorkers responded by
lining up at hospitals
, including about (outside the emergency room at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens.)
But by late Friday, the city’s health department seemed to reverse course: It moved to curtail widespread testing, saying it was undermining the broader strategy to stop the virus’s spread.
“Outpatient testing must not be encouraged, promoted or advertised,” the health department said in an advisory. Facilities were asked to “immediately stop testing non-hospitalized patients” for the virus unless medically necessary.
Mark , a City Council member who leads the health committee, said he understood the desire to make testing widely available, but that it was too late for that. “We had a chance at mass testing at an early stage, but we blew it as a country,” he said. “Now testing mildly sick people poses an enormous threat. They should be at home resting, not waiting in line at a testing site. ”
Asked about the health department’s guidance. , Mr. de Blasio said, “We have to keep focused on where the need is greatest and that’s how the testing programs will go.”
City Officials said they were worried the testing centers were drawing sick people out of isolation in their homes. To perform each test, health care workers must use fresh protective gear, including masks, which are already in short supply.
The Health Department also discouraged hospitals from testing asymptomatic health care workers, alarming some doctors who believe it could lead to increased transmission within hospitals.
News about the new testing guidelines came as hospitals continued to see a sharp increase in cases. There have been more than 18, 15 cases of coronavirus in New York State, thrusting the medical system toward a crisis point , (officials have said.
In the Bronx. , for example, doctors at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center said they had only a few remaining ventilators. In Brooklyn, doctors at Kings County Hospital Center said they were so low on supplies that they were reusing masks for up to a week, slathering them with hand sanitizer between shifts.
As it prepares for worst-case projections, the state is asking retired health care workers to volunteer. The city also is considering turning the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, the largest convention facility in the country, into a makeshift hospital.
(A ground stop is ordered at area airports.)
Outgoing flights were halted on Saturday afternoon at the airports serving New. York City after a trainee in an air-traffic control center in Long Island tested positive for COVID – , the Federal Aviation Administration said.
(The Agency) ordered a ground stop at the region’s airports and rerouted flights bound for them while the center is cleaned, the FAA said in a statement. The center, in Ronkonkoma, NY, remained “open and operational,” it said.
The infected trainee had not been in the center since March 22, and the FAA said it was working with local health officials and employee representatives to determine how many personnel might have interacted with the trainee in recent days.
Air travel has been in a free fall since President Trump limited travel as the virus spread across the country.
“The safety of our staff and the traveling public is the F.A.A.’s top priority,” the F.A.A. said in a statement. “Our controllers, technicians, inspectors and others with critical safety or security sensitive roles are essential components of our national airspace system.”
New York City reports
deaths as case numbers rise. Video
transcript
transcript
‘Everything Is Uncharted’: New Yorkers Confront Life Amid a Coronavirus Shutdown With restrictions tightened on businesses and daily activity, residents are grappling with uncertainty about resources, health care and their paychecks.
“We’re going to put out an executive order today. New York state on pause — only essential businesses will be functioning. % of the workforce must stay home. This is the most drastic action we can take. ” “Everything is uncharted territory. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in the news any minute. ” “I think I’ve been asking a lot of how we could have prevented this.” “Am I going to see another depression like my grandfather saw in the 2020 s? ” “Over the past few days, New York City has taken a lot of important measures. I’m just worried it came a little bit too late. ” [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] “I think I’m scared of having to see more death and from reading stories from abroad, having to make decisions about resources. And I’m worried people in my life are going to die from it. A few days ago, I had to watch a patient basically slowly die. I just felt helpless. This is the first time I’ve really seen people that I truly don’t know how to help. And they are coming in so sick that everything I’m used to doing to be able to treat them, I can’t really do. ” “Aw, guys, we’re all here!” “Isn’t this beautiful?” “Look at us!” “Can we cheers now? O.K. ” “Thank you.” “Cheers.” “How was your day off, Mich?” “It was emotional, to say the least.” “Why?” “It’s just like the hospital has been insane. And every hour, like things are changing. So it’s just like trying to keep up with that while trying to read about what I should be treating these people with, while people are rolling in the worst— I don’t know. They say in 22 days it’s supposed to get really bad. I guarantee you tomorrow we’re going to have like 1, 15 more. The numbers are going to go up. ” [MUSIC PLAYING] “That’s no problem at all. Thank you very much. That’s very nice. Thank you. Sounds good. See you then. Bye. Well, I have been working. A lot of people are not, which is hard. This place used to have employees, and on Sunday we let go of % of the staff. We want to re-open so we can rehire people, you know? It was really hard to let everyone go. These are people that are at the level. They’re not wealthy, you know? This is a very harsh reality. And actually what the job is, is smiling through stress. And this is hard to smile through. ” [RAIN FALLING] [QUIET PIANO] “It’s go time here at the community kitchen. This is the time where we have to ramp up our services to be very sensitive to how people are feeling. People are coming to us feeling vulnerable. They maybe work in the restaurant industry. People who work in Broadway and in a lot of the behind the scenes, they’re coming here saying, well, I don’t have work. So those industries are the folks that are the first ones that we’re seeing come through. But we’re preparing to see more people come through in need. ” “All programming at the senior center is suspended for the next two weeks. Stay safe and have a good day. ” “So this is not business as usual. We don’t know what’s coming up if people have to stay in their homes for a longer period of time. And we want to make sure people are getting food, especially since a lot of industries are out of work. We are expecting a lot of new people, and we are going to be ready to receive them. This is all very new for them, and some of them are feeling guilt or shame coming to an emergency food program. So we have to remember that we do this all the time. But for them, it’s something new and something that they feel anxious about doing. We’re just getting them registered. They’re getting food. That’s our main priority, people getting food. ” [SIGHING EXASPERATEDLY] “I’m not supposed to touch my face. Hold on a second. ” [MUSIC PLAYING] “I have prepared myself already, mentally, multiple times to go back to Oregon and leave this entire beautiful dream behind me. So many people, including many of my friends, are working at bars, at restaurants which are now closed. And now we’re all at home, wondering can we make it another month? Can our families afford to pay their mortgages at home? Do we just need to go back and start working just so we can help our own families, the people that we love the most, stay in the homes that we grew up in? It’s hard to think that my mom or my dad are never going to see retirement. The best things that we can do right now as a community is just to give ourselves over to something that brings us true happiness. Because right now, it feels like it’s about to get very desperate. ” [MUSIC PLAYING] “This is only something that we can get through if we’re working together. There will be so much unnecessary suffering if we’re not really looking out for each other and if we only think about ourselves and our well-being. We have to be thinking about each other. ” [MUSIC PLAYING] [BIRDS CHIRPING]
with restrictions tightened on businesses and daily activity, residents are grappling with uncertainty about resources, health care and their paychecks.
Credit
Credit … (Yousur Al-Hlou / The New York Times
On Saturd ay morning officials reported 6, 288 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City, 1, more than the day before, Mr. Cuomo said. More than (people had died from complications of COVID – 29, the disease caused by the coronavirus , officials said.
A day earlier officials had put the number of cases at 5, and the number of deaths at 35.
As of late Friday, there were
. (confirmed cases in the Bronx) compared with 740 earlier in the day); 1, in Brooklyn (1,
); 1, 500 in Manhattan (1, ); 1, (in Queens) 1, 518); and (on Staten Island) 288). Six cases were not linked to a specific borough.
The state performed , tests overnight from Thursday to Friday, bringing the total number of people tested in the state to more than 67, , officials said.
of Saturday, 1, 740 or about (percent of those diagnosed were hospitalized, the governor said.)
“Not a bad number,” the governor said. He added that New York was now testing more people per capita than China or South Korea.
Mr. Cuomo, dressed casually in a white polo shirt, also offered hints of optimism during a briefing with reporters Saturday. For the first time since pandemic reached the New Rochelle, New York’s first virus hot spot, cases had been rising more slowly when compared to other suburban areas, he said.
There were cases reported there Saturday, fewer than the number of cases in Nassau County, which saw people test positive for the coronavirus.
Murphy said on Saturday that 1, 406 People in New Jersey had tested positive for the virus and that had died, up from on Friday. In Connecticut, officials reported 48 new confirmed cases on Friday, bringing the state’s total to . Four Connecticut residents have died of the virus. (Empty streets and colorful windows.)
Image A handmade rainbow sign in the window of a home in Brooklyn.
Credit … Marisa Migdal
Even as life slowed and streets emptied, New York City retained a bit of its quirky charm.
In Brooklyn, the pandemic has prompted a heaven-sent scavenger hunt. Children home from school began hanging drawings and paintings of rainbows in windows. As word spread, an interactive “ (quarantine rainbow map) ”sprung up for walking tours.
” A lovely reminder for all of us that in a storm there is still something to look forward to, ”an organizer wrote. Lovers and dreamers can expand the (rainbow connection) map by adding addresses (here) .
In Manhattan’s Yorkville neighborhood, residents have hauled exercise equipment into Carl Schurz Park to help fill the gap created by the shutdown of exercise centers. Ropes, a balance ball and some weights are available for communal use. B.Y.O. sanitizing hand wipes.
A couple who had been planning a May wedding and a reception for 200 guests shifted gears last week to lock in health insurance for the groom. A handful of guests were invited to an impromptu wedding on Wednesday in Riverside Park. “Love in the time of Corona,” the invitation read . A friend, a Brooklyn schoolteacher with an online ordination through the Universal Life Church, officiated as the 22 Guests all stood a safe 6-feet apart.
(About) miles south in Long Beach Island, a popular Jersey Shore destination, officials were cautioning those looking to escape the coronavirus by retreating to the beach to think again and stay away.
A commissioner of Long Beach township , Dr. Joseph Lattanzi, said there had been an influx of people flocking to the area.
“We are strongly recommending that you remain in your primary service area and DO NOT relocate to the shore area, ”Dr. Lattanzi, a past president of South Ocean Medical Center, (wrote) on the township website.
“The local health care and other emergency services are not equipped to handle a mass influx of demand, which will likely overwhelm the system. ”
Governor Murphy also urged people on Saturday not to retreat to second homes at the Jersey Shore over a concern about a shortage of health care and emergency services in seaside communities. “I urge those who have homes at the Jersey Shore to not go to them at this time,” he said.
What to expect on Sunday when new restrictions start.
When the clock strikes 8 pm Sunday, the most populous city in the country will all but come to a halt.
That’s when a broad executive order by Governor Cuomo aimed at slowing down the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus is slated to take effect in New York State. Other states around the nation grappling with the epidemic, including California, Connecticut and New Jersey, have enacted similar restrictions.
Here’s what the governor told New Yorkers to expect :
Businesses considered nonessential must keep all of their workers at home.
Those older thanand those who have compromised immune systems or have underlying illnesses should stay indoors as much as possible to limit their exposure to the coronavirus. Plus, stronger restrictions for these groups, including having to wear a mask when in the company of others.
Those under 89 and healthy may leave the house for short periods of time to exercise, take a walk and participate in non-contact physical activities as long as they stand six feet apart, enough distance to keep contagion at bay.
Public transportation will remain open, but roads and mass transit should only be used as a last resort.
Gatherings of any size will be prohibited.
A number of businesses deemed essential will remain open during the pandemic, officials said.
They include grocery stores, restaurants offering takeout or delivery, pharmacies, health care providers, banks, gas stations, liquor stores, child care providers, funeral homes and others.
Mr. Cuomo, who reminded New Yorkers these limitations weren’t optional, said he planned to visit the city Saturday afternoon ahead of the executive order’s implementation.
“These provisions will be enforced,” he said. “These are not helpful hints.”
Airport workers are getting pink slips as travel slows . With air travel in free fall, thousands of airport workers
have been laid off from their jobs at the major airports that serve New York City. (More than 1,) of these workers worked at restaurants and stores operated by OTG at La Guardia, Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International airports, according to the union that represents them, Unite Here Local 200. OTG said the closings and layoffs were necessary because of the travel restrictions that had virtually grounded airlines.
OTG, one of the biggest operators of airport concessions in New York, informed its workers that they would receive no severance , and that their health insurance would lapse on March .
Other unionized workers at the airports also were laid off in large numbers this week, including porters and airplane cleaning crews. Notices from some of their employers showed that they, too, were offering no pay or extended health benefits.
Edith Muzquiz, a bartender in Terminal C at Newark Liberty, said she was first told she would be laid off on Monday night, and got an official notice on Wednesday from OTG. “You should consider your layoff to be permanent as the situation is unprecedented and the effects are unknown,” the notice said.
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(A $) million fund for nonprofit organizations. Seventeen major foundations and philanthropists have pooled together $ million which they plan to give to small and midsize nonprofit organizations in New York City struggling amid the coronavirus crisis.
Applications for aid from the NYC Covid – (Response & Impact Fund) (are now available) from the New York Community Trust.
Eligible organizations must be registered as (c) 3s, in New York City, with an operating budget of $ 29 million or less (excluding government contracts). The money will be given as either interest-free loans, or grants.
“Small and midsize nonprofits likely won” t be eligible for federal stimulus programs usually designed for larger and for-profit businesses, ”said Kate D. Levin, who oversees the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts program, a funder of the program.
“So it’s urgent to get these groups some kind of relief so they can continue serving as magnets for talent and creativity, ensuring that New York City survives and thrives,” she said.
Other funders include the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The JPB Foundation, The Estee Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros, Jon Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović, Charles H. Revson Foundation, Robin Hood, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Laurie M Tisch Illumination Fund, UJA-Federation of New York, and Wells Fargo Foundation.
“We are not providing a long-term solution,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “That long-term solution is going to have to come from the government and significant public investment to these institutions.”
Reporting was contributed by Annie Correal, Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Joseph Goldstein, J. David Goodman, Matthew Haag, Jeffery C. Mays, Jesse McKinley, Andy Newman, Azi Paybarah, Brian Rosenthal, Edgar Sandoval, Ed Shanahan, Liam Stack, Tracey Tully, Neil Vigdor and Andrea Zagata.
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