New York vs the Corona Virus

[shadowkat]

In my continuing coverage of New York vs. the Corona Virus...

1. MTA Carpenters Construct Wooden Hand Sanitizer Dispensers and install them across 427 stations

They are also continuing to close the subway each night from 1 am to 5 am to thoroughly clean the trains, and disinfect them. Every day. This may continue indefinitely. So it's no longer a 24/7 service. The reason the European and Asian trains were cleaner than New York's is that they did shut down to clean the trains.

2. As previously noted in another post...The Governor's of NJ, NY and CT are requiring anyone traveling from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington to self-quarantine for a 14-day period upon arrival. (I don't know why they left California off the list - I added California thinking it was included. Are they crazy? California has a bigger uptick than Arizona does.)

Today I announced, along with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a joint initiative that requires all individuals traveling to NY, NJ or CT from listed states with significant community spread of COVID-19 to quarantine for a 14-day period upon arrival.

This advisory goes into effect tonight at midnight and as of today, it applies to anyone traveling from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington. (The list of states will be updated online as the data changes).

Throughout this entire pandemic, we've worked closely with our neighbors and will continue to do so because our tri-state region is interconnects, and what happens in New York happens in New Jersey and happens in Connecticut, too. New Yorkers have come together to get the viral transmission rate down and we don't want to see it go up again because people are traveling into the state and bringing the virus with them. We've gone through hell once — we don't want to go through it again.

3. Here's what else you need to know tonight from New York

1. Five regions of New York are on track to enter Phase 4 of reopening on Friday. The metrics in the Finger Lakes, Central New York, Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley and the North Country continue trending in the right direction. Phase 4 permits indoor religious gatherings at 33% of capacity, and allows low-risk indoor and outdoor arts and entertainment, film and TV production and professional sports without fans. Read more about Phase 4 here.

2. Social gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed as part of Phase 4. Currently, gatherings of up to 25 people are permitted in regions that are in Phase 3.

3. The MTA Subway system had more than 1 million daily riders yesterday, the highest since the COVID-19 crisis began. Ridership is still far below its pre-COVID daily weekday average of 7+ million riders. Every single day, every single subway car is disinfected and cleaned, just one of the several precautions undertaken to protect the health of passengers.

4. A note on malls, movie theaters and gyms. These industries are unusually risky from a health standpoint. The State is undertaking further study to ensure we make informed decisions before reopening these businesses.

5. The total number of COVID hospitalizations continues to decline. Total hospitalizations fell to 1,071, from 1,104 the previous day. Sadly, 17 people in New York passed away due to COVID-19.

6. Yesterday, the State tested 51,144 people. Only 581, or 1%, were positive.


So we're way down in regards to what we had. But 1,071 hospitalizations is still high to me. As is 17 dead. Numbers are relative, I guess? Considering the population is 19 million. Also, not everyone can get tested. But they are testing a lot of people each day, because our Governor has decided testing makes us safe and is obsessed, also competitive. We've done more testing than anyone, and he's very proud of that accomplishment. It's pissing Staten Islanders off though - since they installed a huge testing site in a middle class black community, that had been promised recreational centers and other things - and instead got a nasty, noisy, 24/7, testing site right next door.

4. New York City Marathon has been cancelled

But hey, NYC beaches are open for swimming on July 1, as long as everyone wears a mask. It's not clear how you'd do that on a beach or pool, but okay.

Comments

[wendelah1]

Personally, I would go ahead and ban Californians, too. (It's just a matter of time, imho.) But the only reason why Arizona's terrible numbers are as low as they are is because they aren't testing nearly enough people. If they were, the numbers would be much much higher. They're in way worse trouble than we are, believe it or not. Their ICUs are fast approaching capacity, so are their hospital beds in general.

[shadowkat]

Another friend (who lives in the Bay area in California) explained why they didn't ban California - apparently the cases are more isolated by county. LA is a problem and Southern California, while Northern is fine. So they may be going by infection rate? Also it's not like NY's numbers are great, just that they are so much lower than before, they look great in comparison. And again, they appear to be going by the infection rate based on testing.

They've figured out that Texas doesn't have as many deaths - because its mainly stupid youngsters coming down with it - the older population is being smart and following the guidelines, I'm guessing this is California and Arizona as well?

Arizona just put the mandatory mask wearing in place. The stupid Federal Government has confused the hell out of folks on the masks. I really wish Trump would contract the virus and die from it, along with Pence, and their families - if that happened, everyone would wear a mask and follow the guidelines.

[wendelah1]

We have twice the death rate as the rest of the state but it's low compared to New York. The two biggest vectors are nursing homes and prisons, as they are everywhere. Apart from that, I do think young people are driving the infection rate here, yeah. I think older people are doing their best to stay home. Easily 90% of Angelenos in my neighborhood are wearing masks and social distancing in public. (You can't enter into a market or pharmacy without a mask. The social distancing is enforced too--my Ralph's market only lets in a certain number of shoppers. They have an employee roaming the aisles nudging people and constant reminders are being broadcast overhead, too.) But who knows what people are doing in the privacy of their own homes? Seeing friends and family is my best guess.