4/14 COVID-19 Update
April 14, 2020
Dear Nieghbor,
Many worked on Easter and are working through Passover due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Essential employees are trying to keep us safe, provide transportation and much more.
To our health care workers, firefighters, police, EMS, bus drivers, utility workers, childcare workers, grocers, pharmacists, airport workers, Uber drivers, public transit workers, truck drivers, and others on the front lines, we extend our gratitude.
Last week, my office helped connect the Northeast Face Shield Project with Good Samaritan Hospital to donate critical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The Northeast Face Shield Project donated 500 3D printed face shields. Now, the Northeast Face Shield Project needs our help. They are looking for more volunteers and donations to continue making deliveries like the one we completed.
 |
 |
If you would like to help, please visit: www.nefaceshield.org or https://www.gofundme.com/f/nefaceshieldorg.
My office continues to fight for:
- Securing more PPE for our frontline health care professionals
- Establishing a COVID-19 Compensation Fund for frontline workers
- Increasing antibody testing
- Increasing testing for communities of color
- Providing food assistance for New Yorkers in need
- Ensuring stimulus checks cannot be garnished by debt collectors
Right now, we are seeing a flattening of the curve, and hospitalizations went down yesterday. However, we are by no means out of the woods, which is why it is imperative residents stay home, practice social distancing, wash their hands frequently, and wear a mask when out for groceries or medicine.
No one can promise or predict when this "new normal" will be over. However, I will continue to fight for State and Federal resources for District 38, introduce legislation to benefit New Yorkers, and make sound decisions based on all the available science and data.
Sincerely,
David Carlucci
LATEST UPDATES
DISTRESSING NEWS ON COVID-19 DEATHS: Sadly, to date New York has lost 10,834 people to this invisible enemy. To put this in perspective on 9/11, New York lost 2,753 people. On Easter Sunday, there were 671 new deaths statewide, and yesterday there were 778 deaths. To date, Rockland has lost 209 residents since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and Westchester has lost 596 residents.
COVID-19 CASES: On Monday, there were 7,177 new COVID-19 cases statewide, bringing the total to 202,208 cases. In Rockland County, there were 370 new cases as of Monday, bringing the total to 8,335. In Westchester County, there were 405 new cases as of Monday, bringing the total to 20,191.
COVID-19 TOWN HALL: Please join Senator Carlucci for a Facebook Live update on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. on the State's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can ask questions and watch it LIVE here: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorDavidCarlucci/.
NEW STATE TESTING TRACKER: New York launched a new COVID-19 tracker, with detailed county-by-county information on confirmed cases. The website is updated daily with the latest data.
ANTIBODY TESTING: We need widespread antibody testing to restart our economy and get 9 million people back to work. The Department of Health performed 300 antibody tests. They are on track to conduct 1,000 per day by Friday and 2,000 per day the following week. The state previously provided labs with the flexibility to allow more healthcare workers to do COVID-19 tests and now the same workers will be able to perform antibody tests. The State is seeking private sector businesses who can accelerate our testing capacity. Interested parties can contact Empire State Development at 212-803-3100 or COVID19supplies@esd.ny.gov. To reach the widespread level of testing required to restart our economy, we need the Federal Government to use the Defense Production Act.
COORDINATED TESTING RESPONSE: New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey will create a regional testing coalition and continue to press the federal government to implement the Defense Production Act to get our testing up to scale for residents in these states.
COVID-19 DISPROPORTIONATELY TAKING BLACK & HISPANIC LIVES: Last week, the State released much needed preliminary data of COVID-19 deaths broken down by race. It shows Black people are twice as likely to die of COVID-19 then White and Asian people in New York, while Hispanic people are dying at more than double the rate of white people. In response, the State is taking aggressive action to open five new testing sites in neighborhoods with the greatest need. The Federal Government should also be providing COVID-19 data broken down by race/ethnicity across the country. The information is critical to establishing a comprehensive public health response in Black and Hispanic communities to help stop the spread of COVID-19, and ensure tests are being administered and not withheld on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
GOVERNORS ANNOUNCE 6-STATE WORKING GROUP: Governor Cuomo is joining New Jersey,'s Governor Murphy, Connecticut's Governor Lamont, Pennsylvania's Governor Wolf, Delaware's Governor Carney, and Rhode Island's Governor Raimondo to form a new coalition that will work on getting people back to work and restoring the economy. The coordinating group will be made up of one health expert, one economic development expert and the respective Chief of Staff from each state. They will work to develop a fully integrated regional framework to gradually lift the states' stay at home orders, while minimizing the risk of increased spread of the virus.
SCHOOLS REMAIN CLOSED THROUGH APRIL 29th: There have been some questions about when schools in the Hudson Valley could reopen after Mayor DeBlasio’s comments about New York City schools reopening in September. Under executive order, the decision to close and reopen schools lies with the Governor. The Governor has said there is no decision yet about reopening schools, but that it will be a coordinated response with New Jersey and Connecticut. For now, families should plan for schools to be closed through at least April 29th.
FIGHTING TO PROTECT STIMULUS CHECKS: The first wave of stimulus checks are expected this week, and I am fighting to ensure these payments are exempt from garnishment. Creditors should not receive a windfall, while hard working New Yorkers are struggling to navigate this fragile economy. To protect these funds, I urge the federal government to code the stimulus payments as federal benefit payments. To support this call, please sign my petition: https://www.nysenate.gov/petitions/david-carlucci/stimulus-checks-should-not-go-debt-collectors
EMPLOYERS MUST PROVIDE MASKS: The Governor issued an executive order on Sunday, which directs employers to provide essential workers who interact with the public with a cloth or surgical mask. No cost should fall on the employee. New York is following a similar measure put into effect in New Jersey.
NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE BALLOTS WILL BE ALLOWED: The Governor has signed an executive order allowing all New Yorkers to request an absentee ballot to vote in the Democratic Primary on June 23rd. Applications for New York’s absentee ballots are available here. Absentee can be submitted electronically.
MORE MONEY AND TIME FOR UNEMPLOYMENT: The CARES ACT; will add an additional $600 per week beginning on 4/5/2020 until 7/31/2020, on top of whatever base amount New York State is paying you. New York will extend the period of unemployment coverage for an additional 13 weeks, which means residents are eligible for 39 weeks of unemployment. However, after July, the weekly payment will be reduced. If you are having problems getting through to the Department of Labor, please contact my office at (845) 623-3627.
FOOD ASSISTANCE: New York is providing an additional $200 million in emergency food assistance to more than 700,000 low-income households enrolled in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Those who are not yet receiving the maximum benefit will receive an additional payment to bring them up to this amount in March and April. The supplemental benefits will be issued in April and delivered directly to recipients' existing EBT accounts.
COVID-19 COMPENSATION FUND: The State is working with our Congressional delegation to create a COVID-19 Heroes Compensation Fund to support frontline workers and their families who contracted COVID-19. It is modeled after the 9/11 Fund, which was passed by Congress after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
STUDENT LOAN HELP: If students are experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic and need relief for loans not covered by the CARES ACT, please visit the Department of Financial Services' website. If you have questions, please contact my office at (845) 623-3627.
LAWYERS INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING: Governor Cuomo has announced a new partnership with the New York State Court System to create a network of volunteer lawyers who can provide free legal services to New Yorkers in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawyers interested in helping can sign up here: www.nysba.org/covidvolunteer.
CHARITIES BAN TOGETHER: The state has started a coalition of foundations, philanthropies, and charities to coordinate an efficient and comprehensive COVID-19 relief response. The effort called "New York Loves" will work with local governments who need additional help.
REMINDERS
Power Outages: Orange & Rockland and Con Edison have crews out working to restore power as quickly as possible in Rockland and Westchester Counties.
- To report an outage with O&R, click here.
- To report an outage with Con Edison, click here.
Grocery Stores: The State Department of Agriculture and Markets issued guidance to grocery stores, which included adding hours solely for seniors and immunocompromised customers from 6:00 a.m. to 8 a.m.. The guidance also provides in-store safety measures that grocery stores should be implementing.
Hospital Visitation: The Department of Health released updated guidance for Hospital Operators regarding visitation. All hospital visitation is suspended except for patients’ support person, or family member or legal representative of a patient in imminent end-of-life situations.
Burial Services: Funerals are allowed under the Governor's executive order. Funeral homes and cemeteries are considered essential services and may continue to operate. However, only immediate family may gather at a funeral home for a private viewing/ceremony. Immediate family should be limited to as few people as possible and social distancing must be practiced.
HOTELS FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS CAMPAIGN
Since launching our campaign to connect area health care workers and first responders with free or discounted hotel and motel rooms in our district, we want to thank the Candlewood Suites Nanuet-Rockland County, Spring Valley Quality Inn, Hilton Garden Inn Nanuet, SpringHill Suites by Marriott Tarrytown Westchester County, Comfort Inn & Suites in Hawthorne, Crowne Plaza in Suffern, and the Courtyard by Marriott Mahwah for offering deeply discounted rooms.
If you are a health care professional or first responder in need of a room, please contact my office, and we will get you connected to one of the hotels mentioned above. We've already been coordinating with area hospitals and police departments.
You can help us give back, by sharing our call for more hotels to offer free or discounted lodging to our frontline workers so they don’t have to worry about going home and exposing their families to COVID-19.
And good news in Westchester County
County Executive George Latimer announced that The Westchester Hotel Association and Westchester County Tourism & Film are matching guest room donations so 400 free-nights can be offered to health care workers at:
· Cambria Hotel White Plains Downtown, to Westchester Medical Center
· Comfort Inn & Suites, Hawthorne, to Westchester Medical Center
· DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Tarrytown, to Phelps Memorial Hospital
· Holiday Inn Mount Kisco, to Northern Westchester Hospital
Those properties – and 22 more Westchester hotels and motels – have also agreed to offer additional rooms for healthcare providers and emergency responders at deeply discounted rates. For rates, please visit: www.visitwestchesterny.com/hotels/covid-19-response/.
Equipment
New York State has a critical need for Personal Protective Equipment including masks, gowns and gloves. New York State needs companies to be creative to supply the crucial gear that our health care workers need. New York will pay a premium and is offering funding.
Need funding to manufacture products?
Call: (212) 803-3110 and e-mail: COVID19supplies@exec.ny.gov.
Have unused supplies? Call: (646) 522-8477 or e-mail: COVID19supplies@exec.ny.gov.
Volunteers
If you are a retired health care worker, currently not working, or working part-time, please contact Montefiore Nyack Hospital. Please see information below:
The State is taking steps to create a reserve workforce to combat the coronavirus pandemic. If you are a health care or mental health care professional or recently retired and would like to help, please, click here. If you are an administrator at a School of Public Health, School of Medicine, or School of Nursing who can help identify qualified staff and students and would like to help, please, click here. If you are experienced in technology, operations, analytics, or communications and would like to join the COVID-19 Technology SWAT Team for 90-day service deployments, please, click here.
Giving Blood
Senator Carlucci encourages residents who are healthy to donate blood. If you live in Westchester County, you can make an appointment at the Elmsford Donor Center at 525 Executive Blvd. in Elmsford, NY; however, they are not a site accepting plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19. Appointments are necessary and can be made here: https://donate.nybc.org/donor/schedules/center/20.
If you have recovered from COVID-19, you have the opportunity to not just donate blood, but convalescent plasma, which could possibly help sick COVID-19 patients. For both Westchester and Rockland residents, the closet location, outside of the City, collecting plasma is the Rockland Donor Center in Nanuet. For more information, please see below. You must fill out this New York Blood Center form first, and then you will be contacted about an appointment. You can visit the New York Blood Center for more information here.
Meals For Health Care Workers
If you would like to help provide meals for White Plains Hospital workers, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/wewillprovide.
Making Masks
Sign up to make critical PPE for our health care heroes in the Hudson Valley by joining, The Masked Warriors Project, for more information, click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheMaskedWarriorsProject.
You can also sign up to make masks for the State here or New York City here.
NY STRONG CAMPAIGN
We started our NY Strong Campaign two weeks ago, and we would like to recognize, Pastor Ed Ilarraza for being NY Strong. Pastor Ilarraza with Good News Association Inc. and New Life Tabernacle in Nanuet partnered with area churches to offer Rockland County residents free pick up and delivery of groceries. For more information, please see the flyer below.
Know someone who deserves our thanks at this difficult time? Please share the story with me by emailing it to carlucci@nysenate.gov with “NY Strong” in the subject line.
THANK YOU
- Mercury Medical, a healthcare manufacturer donated 2,500 Disposable CPAP devices to New York for treating COVID-19 patients. They were flown in from Florida for free by Jetblue and transported by ground by Southern Glazer's.
- Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky will contribute $2 million to help provide rooms in union hotels at no cost to frontline workers. As part of this effort, the union 1199SEIU is partnering with Airbnb to offer housing to its members, including healthcare workers, as they fight COVID-19. Additionally, the InterContinental Times Square, Yotel and the Hudson Hotel are providing an additional 800 free rooms for healthcare workers coming to New York City from out of state, in collaboration with the Hotel Association of New York City, MetLife and the Related Companies.
WHAT NEW YORK TOUGH LOOKS LIKE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a0qoXZK5Qw&feature=youtu.be
