New York Governor Cuomo

 NY Governor Cuomo holds coronavirus briefing 

Personal Note: I want to recommend every family have their older kids watch his building up of our National Guard. I felt like I was in a graduation speech. It was so encouraging and inspiring to watch him speak to our military with his pep talk, honoring them, and calling them to action. It is humbling to see what our National Guard is doing for the safety and wellbeing of us all on our own soil. (Start at 26:58 to see him start to thank and inspire the National Guard)

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE 

NOTES: 

Javits Center

Mar 3-March 25 increase in number of cases still going up

Steps/ Goals:

1. flatten the curve - no apex so the hospital capacity can keep up with it

2. increase hospital capacity so if it exceeds the numbers we can deal with it

barring non essential workers, social distancing, closing bars and restaurants

decision with benefit and burden / risk and reward

we are battling a deady virus - intrusion on daily life, movement, economy = yes

BUT - on the other side of this scale = saving lives (fact; not drama)

SCHOOLS

Public Education is very important - on the other side of the balance beam is public health

decided to close public schools bc believed safer to reduce the spread

Closed March 18 - do for 2 weeks and then reassess - ends on April 1

waive 180 day requirement for schools

also said schools had to come up with plans to continue what they were doing - meals in schools, childcare workers - to mitigate the consequence of their closing - includes distance learning for students

schools need to remain closed 

continue childcare, meals, distance learning 

he will continue the waiver on 180 days 

close schools another 2 weeks and then reassess - this is STATE WIDE

HOSPITALS

- increasing hospital capacity - apex of the curve changes based on daily data

looking at 21 days for a possible apex

trying to do everything to be ready for the increase capacity that could hit in 21 days

doing everything they can - never done before - people thought impossible - but now doing the impossible

all hospitals have to increase capacity by 50% - asking to try for 100%

we need that many beds

converting dorms and hotels on the table 

gathering equipment - PPE, ventilators... shopping around globe to put all in place

creating a stockpile of this equipment for apex to hit - to deploy to whatever region or hospital needs it

N95 masks, gloves, gowns, coveralls, ventilators - 

this is a respiratory illness - acute care need ventilators - and they are on them much longer than usual (2-3 days vs COVID up to 20 days)

making sure ready for apex when whole system is under pressure

@8min

hospital capacity at the apex - need 140k beds. Have 53k beds. Why they are scrambling to do so much work.

Need 40k ICU beds. with ventilators. 

Started with 3K ICU beds and ventilators. Therefore - the task is monumental!

PLAN OF ACTION

All hospitals increase 50-100% (if 100% they get the gold star hospital award - figure out what that means later)

FEMA and National Guard working to put up these hospitals.

Javits, West Chester, Stoneybrook, Old Westberry - locations for 4000 more units.

they are on there way

With all of these beds - still a shortfall. So PLAN B - 

seek to build another 4 temporary emergency hospitals - to get another 4000 beds. Scouting sites for a few days. Settled on a few - working with Army Corp of engineers and asking President today to authorize another 4.

Wants one in every borough:

• Bronx, (NY Expo center site)  90k sq ft
• Queens, (Aqueduct race track site) 100k sq ft
• Manhattan,
• Statin Island,(College) - power, climate control, 77k sq ft, convert easily
• Brooklyn, (Cruise Terminal) 182 k sq ft, wide open space, convert easily
• Nassau,
• Suffolk, 
• West Chester

so everyone knows downstate (where the essence of density) they are all being equally helped and protected

build interior space, temp tents exterior for supplies and equipment, etc. 

gives coverage to the areas - the best plan we can put together and execute in this timeline

IF WHITE HOUSE grants the request - Navy Ship Comfort coming to NY HARBOR - 1000 beds, 1200 medical persons, Pharmacy, Laboratory, Operating Rooms - will be here MONDAY 

Also looking at converting Dorms - City College, Queens College (Colleges are closed and students left)

Also looking at hotels - nursing homes, Marriot Brooklyn Bridge Hotel and Nursing Home called Brooklyn Center

Looking far and wide - creative and agressive to find all space needed to convert if they have overflow

planned to have this coming online BEFORE the apex hits at the same time trying to flatten the curve to delay and soften that apex

1.slow the spread

2. flatten the curve

3. increase hospital capacity

Over next 3-4 weeks - going to have the capacity as high as possibly can get it

TODAY: WHERE WE ARE

We test more in the state per capita than China or South Korea

• new tests 16k
• total tested 138 k
• # positive 44k
• new cases 7,377

Continues to spread state-wide and country-wide

#deaths 519 in NY (up from 385); that will continue to go up; that is the worst news I could possibly tell the people of the state of NY

reason # going up - some people came to the hospital 20-25 days ago and have been on a ventilator that entire time. The longer you are on a ventilator - the less likely you are going to come off. True with any virus. 

Seeing significant increase in deaths bc length of time on ventilator is increasing and more it increases the higher level of deaths increase.

Bad, tragic, worst news - but not unexpected news

If not off ventilator in relatively short period of time - not a good sign

• 44K # positive
• 6k hospitalized
• 1500 ICU (up 290) - need ventilators for them

2k patients have been discharged  (up 528) - people getting treatment and leaving hospital

MOST PEOPLE WHO GET VIRUS won't go to hospital in first place

Giving hospital stats

80% of cases are getting better  - self-resolve - feel ill 

20% go to hospital - some short term treatment and go home; 

small percent (tend to be vulnerable people) - respiratory illness compounds the problem they have - cancer, emphasema, etc on top of that they get pnemonia (which is what this coronavirus is) - go on to a ventilator - some % get off quickly, some % don't get off - longer on the higher mortality rate

 NY still has more cases and more deaths bc we offer people from all over the globe - people traveling around the country stopped here. PLUS we are a very dense environment.

Social Distancing 6ft away is hard in NYC.

Our density is what gives us that NY energy/mojo but has also become our enemy in a situation like this.

Before getting individual patient data - very labor-intensive - erratic the way the info would come in (sometimes hospital too busy to put it all in so sent in later)

Now a more uniform set of data - this is all the people in that hospital who have the COVID virus without getting into individual circumstances.

@22 minutes in

Good News: Not doubling as fast

Bad News: Still doubling every 4 days

Rate of the increase is slowing; but number of cases is still going up

He explained we need both of those things to happen; rate slowing and number of cases going down

John's Hopkins Research:

24K (deaths) vs 542k cases

deaths overwhelmingly vulnerable people (older, illnesses, etc)

NY Put out a call - 62k volunteers (up 10k in one day)

BEAUTIFUL! 

People who are retired and are coming forward.

Asked for Mental Health Professionals - for telephone/computer services. 

(Up 1400 for total of 10,099 volunteers)

Stressful, taxing on everyone. Isolation at home. Mental Health service over the telephone is very important.

ADDRESSING THE NATIONAL GUARD

Re: The construction behind him-

First - thank you's

• Gen Patrick Murphy - knows what he is doing; couldn't have a better commander at this time
• Army Corp of Engineers - thank you
• ______ Staff who has stepped up - thank you
• National Guard - thank you - what they did in 1 week - creating a hospital is incredible; such a good job, he is asking for 4 more from the President

@27:00

2 Promises to National Guard;

this is a different, invisible, insidious beast; not going to be a short deployment; this is going to be weeks and weeks and weeks - a long, hard, ugly, sad day

This is a rescue mission you are on. The mission = to save lives. 

As hard as we work, we will not be able to save everyone. 

More cruel = this enemy attacks the weakest of us, our most vulnerable = makes it even worse

These are the people every instinct tells us we are to protect - our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sick relatives  

Promises: 

1. I will not ask you to do anything that I will not do myself.
2. I will not ask you to go anywhere I would not go myself.

you are living in a moment in history - that will change this nation
forges character, people

10 years from now - you will shed a tear as you remember (those you could not save), but you will also be proud - that you showed up, when others played it safe, you had the courage to show up - had the skill and professionalism to make the difference and save lives - 

No one could ask any more from you - that is your duty - to do what you can when you can

you will be there with your mind and your heart and you will serve with honor - and that will give you pride - and you should be proud 

"I am proud of you"

Every time the National Guard has been called out, they have made every New Yorker proud.

I am proud to fight with you.

Thanks from all New Yorkers - for the sacrifices you are making, the skills and talents that you are bringing - you give New Yorkers confidence.

"We go out there today and we kick Coronavirus' ass." 

We save lives.

God Bless each and every one of you.

@34 minutes

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:

Q: about the numbers of needed supplies

A: Operating on Data and Projections; all projections say you could need .....

He says to Make the Decisions based on the data and science. They are following that. He hopes they don't need it.

He hopes some natural weather change happens overnight and kills the virus.

The numbers say you may need 30k ventilators.

Q:

A: You will see if the numbers continue to increase - hospitals reaching, and over, capacity

Why exercising building extra facilities.

Q: 

A: Initially closed schools for 2 weeks. Extended another 2 weeks and see where we are. If the same trajectory is going up - then will extend it. Not saying today they will extend it # of weeks - because he doesn't know what's going to happen. If the numbers continue this way - they will extend closings another 2 weeks.

Q: 

A: To flatten the curve only 2 things you can do:

1. Social Distancing - NY has taken dramatic action

2. Testing - to find the positive, isolate, stop the spread

They are doing everything they can. More testing per capital globally. 

He thinks there is a correlation as to why it's slowing. 

@40 min

Dr. agrees with the Governor - we will know more about spread in a couple more days when see the data

Q: 

A: The criteria: You need a large open indoor space with power, HVAC, with accompanying space to set up medical staff, supplies (staging area), now empty so you don't have to clear it. 1 per county (his strategic decision) so every county has 1 in their burrow. Looked at 10 sites. Narrowed down. Worked with Army Corp engineers. Came up with final list of 4 sites. Sending list today to President asking for the 4. Means 4000 units. 1000 units behind him. Totals 8000 units from the federal govt for temp hospital beds. (?)  

1rst approval - needed by President

Then 10 days to construct them

Q: Re: Hospital Policies

A: Looking at "that" policy. Hospitals have the right to do something further than what we recommend. We know this is difficult on the families.

Q: Follow up question:

A: Working closely with the hospitals. Health care workers are on front lines. Addressing necessary precautions and provide info to their patients. 

Q: 

A: Budget discussions with legislative leaders - Federal Govt stated they would provide aid to State Governments - they passed a bill that did not do that. This is math. We have no State Revenues to speak of; have to dramatically cut our state expenses. Can't spend what you don't have - can't do that in family, business, or government. 

Federal Government only gave us 5 Billion to ONLY USE FOR CORONAVIRUS expenses; we've lost 10-15 billion in revenue. People don't work - no income tax - businesses closed - no tax....

@44:47

10-15 billion hole

federal govt gave us ZERO - NADA- NILCH

going to have to cut education aid (#1 expense) and health care (can use the 5 billion from feds for coronavirus care)

When they did not give state funding - all they did was cut the education budget to the state of NY which is tragic

Q:

A: not a lot to negotiate when the budget is ZERO

Q: 

A: No evictions based on rent for 90 days. So if you don't pay rent for 90 days, you cannot be evicted.

Q: 

A: Closing down non-essential construction sites. Some construction is essential.

We have a list of "essential" he can get to her later if she'd like (she asked to define it)

Q: 

A: Executive Order - by LAW - a landlord-tenant cannot evict for rent nonpayment - for 90 days

"Let's go to work guys."

Big round of applause for what they've done and what they are doing.

STAY HOME   STOP THE SPREAD  SAVE LIVES (their video words)