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Coronavirus Updates: New York To Allow Marriage Bureau Clerks To Perform Ceremonies On Video
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Jen Chung
Published Apr 18, 2020
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Governor Cuomo's office
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 18, 2020
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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Saturday, April 18th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.
Read our guide to understanding New York on PAUSE, NY's stay-at-home order; a look at preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.
Are you a healthcare worker or another kind of essential worker? Email us what you're seeing at [email protected].
Update, 1:05 p.m.: Governor Andrew Cuomo took members of the media—and everyone else watching his Saturday briefing—through another detailed explanation of why COVID-19 tests are in such short supply, because one of his daughters didn't understand what the debate was about. "Testing is single most important topic to understand," he said and is "key to monitoring rate of infection and controlling for it... That's the tension in reopening."
The governor, who has touted that three times the current number of tests will be necessary in order to reopen the state, said, "Nobody wants to reopen more than me," before noting that the 30-some private companies making tests sell their distinct testing equipment to 300 labs in the state, who then need chemicals, or "reagents," that are specific to the manufacturer's testing equipment. Basically, Cuomo made another plea for the federal government to step in and take control of or help ease the supply chain.
Based on the latest state data, there have been about 2,000 new admissions and 540 deaths (36 of which were in nursing homes), and the governor said New York may be past the peak and coming off the plateau, "but we're still not at a good position." The state has 236,732 cases.
Cuomo also made the point that another important step in reopening New York, or any state, was the federal government making sure the state got funding. "You have to fund a state government, who can fund small businesses, hospitals, and schools," Cuomo said. "If you want us to reopen, then we need funding."
The federal government was thanked by the governor for sending 1.5 million cloth masks, apparently made by Hanes, to New York State, which will then distribute them to the public.
Cuomo acknowledged the stress of the pandemic, and the growing outcry for reopening, but said that states pursuing different approaches could result in the "unintended consequence" of spreading coronavirus. "A house divided against itself cannot stand," he said, quoting Abraham Lincoln, while making a plea for unity.
Of the Florida beach reopenings, "People will drive [to visit them] from everywhere! If it was a little bit closer, I might drive there."
The issue of the alarming number of deaths at nursing homes was brought up by reporters, and Cuomo said it was very upsetting and concerning, but he didn't think nursing home operators were doing anything "nefarious" by not instantly reporting deaths, because those deaths would have been discovered anyway. He believes that they have been overwhelmed by trying to care for their residents.
The governor will also issue an executive order allowing marriage bureaus across the state to marry couples virtually. Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, made the announcement after a reporter noted the closures of marriage bureaus.
"I think the divorce rate is going up," Cuomo cracked. "The marriage rate is going down, the divorce rate is going up."
DeRosa said the order will allow "clerks to perform ceremonies over video. So if that is an avenue people want to go down, it will be available to them." Earlier this week, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said he'd consider having an online option for marriages.
"Video marriages—there is now no excuse when the question of marriage comes up," the governor said. Here's the text of the executive order.
The New York State mask or face-covering order is in effect, but Cuomo and his team were not wearing masks. He explained that they were socially distanced, but when he's in public and might not be able to socially distance himself from other people, like when he walks his dog Captain, he does wear a mask. However, Captain does not wear a mask.
Finally, Cuomo began the briefing by saying, "Let's start with some indisputable facts, and remarked, "Today is Saturday," with this graphic:
Fauci Says Testing Is An "Important Part Of A Multi-Faceted" Solution To COVID-19 Outbreak
As New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and President Donald Trump traded barbs about the federal and states' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the question of reopening was at the forefront of the Friday evening White House briefing from the coronavirus task force.
Though Trump had said on Thursday that governors will "call the shots" on when their states should reopen, the following day, the president "openly encouraged right-wing protests of social distancing restrictions in states with stay-at-home orders," the NY Times reported. Cuomo has said one of the components of any plan to reopen New York would be widespread testing, prompting his calls for the federal government to step up.
Dr. Fauci at the April 17, 2020 White House Coronavirus Task Force Briefing
Alex Brandon/AP/Shutterstock
During the Friday briefing, Trump insisted, "We've already built sufficient testing capacity nationwide for states to begin their reopenings," and accused "very partisan voices in the media and in politics" of "spread[ing] false and misleading information about our testing capacity... demonstrating a complete failure to understand the enormous scope of the testing capabilities that we've brought online."
However, heath experts and elected officials say that part of the problem is that private companies are producing tests, and there are also shortages for parts of the test. According to the Washington Post, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry published a statement "[saying] there were still critical supply chain issues that stand in the way of ramping up testing, including a lack of protective equipment for technicians who run the tests, and a shortage of swabs and reagents — chemical solutions required to run the tests."
AACA president Carmen Wiley said, "The only entity in this crisis with the power to source the necessary supplies on a large scale and route them to those areas where they are most needed — whether an N95 mask, testing reagents, or a testing swab — is the federal government. The White House must continue to do the work only they can do: Find and coordinate resources so that physicians, nurses, laboratory professionals, and others can do their jobs.”
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci explained during the taskforce briefing that there are challenges with hinging all expectations on testing: "The point about that that I think is often misunderstood is that if you get a test today—like I did today; it's negative—if you get a test today, that does not mean that tomorrow or the next day or the next day or the next day, as you get exposed, perhaps from someone who may not even know they're infected, that that means that I'm negative," he said. "Which means, if you take that to its extreme, in order to be really sure, you would almost have to test somebody either every day or every other day or every week or what it is to be absolutely certain. That's an issue."
"Testing is a part, an important part, of a multifaceted way that we are going to control and ultimately end this outbreak," Fauci declared. "So please don't anyone interpret it that I'm downplaying testing, but the emphasis that we've been hearing is essentially, 'testing is everything,' and it isn't. It's the kinds of things that we've been doing — the mitigation strategies"—like stay-at-home orders, social distancing—"that are an important part of that."
Fauci also addressed antibody tests, and how they'll be useful in knowing how much of the population has been infected. He said based on what's known about other viruses, "[w]e are assuming that if you're infected and you have [the] antibody, you're protected.. But what we want to make sure that we know, and these are some of the challenges: What is the titer that is protective? How long is the protection? Is it one month? Is it three months? Is it six months? It's a year? So we need to be humble and modest that we don't know everything about it, but it really is an important test."
A study from Stanford University in which 3,300 residents of Santa Clara County were given the antibody test found that about 2.5-4.2% of the sample had COVID-19 antibodies: "These prevalence estimates represent a range between 48,000 and 81,000 people infected in Santa Clara County by early April, 50-85-fold more than the number of confirmed cases," and concluded, "The population prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in Santa Clara County implies that the infection is much more widespread than indicated by the number of confirmed cases."
At this point, Cuomo has extended New York on PAUSE, the state's stay-at-home order and shutdown on non-essential business, until May 15th. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio maintains that schools will not reopen for the rest of the academic year, which runs until June 26th, though Cuomo feels that is only the mayor's "opinion" and has made no decision for schools statewide.
The governor's executive ordering requiring that masks or face coverings be worn in public began on Friday night.
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coronavirus
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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