ALBANY, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — At Monday’s daily coronavirus briefing, New York State Governor Cuomo says there will be $25 million in emergency funding going to food banks across the state. He is also asking any philanthropists that can donate funding to contact the governor’s office at COVIDPhilantropies@Exec.ny.gov.
Food banks across New York State have seen a surge in demand. Here is a breakdown by region:
- 40-60% increase across Upstate New York
- 40% increase on Long Island
- 100% increase in New York City
- 200% increase in Westchester
Cuomo also announced the creation of the Nourish New York Initiative, which will purchase food and products from upstate farms and direct those products to food banks across New York State. The state is also partnering with companies like Cabot, Chobani, and Upstate Niagara, as well as the Dairy Famers of America, to purchase excess milk and dairy products, like cheese, and then give those products to the state’s food banks.
In Monday’s briefing, Cuomo said that so far, the state has tested 7,500 people for antibodies. The infection rate in the state is 14.9%. Below is a breakdown of the infection rate by region:
- Mohawk Valley: 2.6%
- North Country: 1.2%
- Capital District: 2.1%
- Hudson Valley: 10.4%
- Central New York: 1.3%
- Southern Tier: 2.4%
- Finger Lakes: 2.7%
- Western New York: 7.1%
Cuomo says the state will continue to perform more testing, including in lower-income communities. Cuomo also said the state would be testing 1,000 NYFD members, 1,000 NYPD members, 3,000 healthcare workers, and 1,000 public transit workers.
Cuomo said more drive-through testing facilities would be opening across the state in Broome County, Erie County, Monroe County, Niagara County, and Oneida County. Appointments must be made to go to one of these facilities.
Cuomo said hospitalization rates continue to decline in New York State, but there are still about 1,000 new coronavirus cases per day in the state. On Sunday, there were 337 deaths due to coronavirus.
When it comes to New York State reopening, Cuomo said, “[you must] Know what you are doing before you do it.”
Cuomo outlined 10 different things that have to be evaluated before New York State can be un-PAUSED, as he put it:
- CDC guidelines says 14-day decline before state can reopen
- Phase 1 opening is construction/manufacturing, then what precautions will be in place? What about social distancing? How will businesses monitor workers and customers?
- What is the healthcare capacity of that region? How many ICU beds are available? What about when the flu kicks up in September?
- Is testing in place?
- Is a tracing system in place?
- Do you have isolation facilities?
- There needs to be a regional coordination of schools, transportation, and tracing
- No “attractive nuisances”
- There needs to be a regional control room that must watch hospitalization rate, antibody testing, diagnostic testing, and the infection rate
“We can’t open an attraction that might bring in people from another region and then overwhelm that region,” Cuomo said. “We don’t want to create a situation where people flood an area because people want something to do.”
Click the player below to watch Cuomo’s daily briefing:
The slideshow that was shown during the briefing is below:
