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Coronavirus Updates: Cuomo Taps Bloomberg To Lead COVID-19 Contact "Tracing Army"
By
Elizabeth Kim
and
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 22, 2020
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Governor's Flickr
By
Elizabeth Kim
and
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 22, 2020
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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Wednesday, April 22nd, 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.
1 p.m. Michael Bloomberg has been charged with amassing and leading a "tracing army" to track the spread of COVID-19 in the Tri-State area, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The goal will be to aggressively test and isolate contacts of all those who tested positive for the virus — a major undertaking that experts say is necessary before officials can consider relaxing social distancing measures.
After previewing this push in recent weeks, Cuomo revealed during a press conference on Wednesday that Bloomberg will "coordinate the entire effort," including developing the program and designing the training for thousands of newly-hired tracers.
The multibillionaire former mayor, who does not have a public health background, has also agreed to contribute $10 million to the initiative. By comparison, he spent $1 billion on his failed presidential bid.
The announcement came hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his own plans for a citywide contact tracing apparatus. The mayor was not informed by the Governor's Office that Bloomberg, his predecessor and political rival, would be heading up the statewide effort until Wednesday morning, as de Blasio was announcing his own initiative, mayoral spokesperson Freddi Goldstein told Gothamist.
While the city will still be responsible for hiring some of the field workers, Cuomo stressed that the initiative had to be regionally focused. "You cannot trace someone within the boundaries of New York City," he said.
The state will also partner with Johns Hopkins University and the non-profit Vital Strategies to roll out the program. Some of the roughly 35,000 CUNY and SUNY students in medical fields will also be tapped for the effort, Cuomo said.
The federal government has made available $1.3 billion for New York to begin contact tracing. Cuomo did not immediately have an estimate for how much it would cost.
"You don’t have months to get this up and running," he added. "You have weeks."
De Blasio Announces Plan To Widely Test And Trace NYers For COVID-19
10:45 a.m. Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday laid out a wide-ranging, aggressive plan to test New York City residents for coronavirus and isolate and trace the contacts of those who test positive.
Those infected would be able to stay in hotels if they are unable to self-quarantine, de Blasio said during his morning press briefing.
The initiative could potentially involve testing "hundreds of thousands" of New Yorkers and will require thousands of employees to administer. He said the city is already identifying public buildings in which the tests would be performed.
"We will build an apparatus that will grow with the need," he said.
Beginning in May, New York City will contract local manufacturers to produce COVID-19 testing kits, with hopes of producing 400,000 tests a month. However, the mayor stressed that the city will still need help from the federal government in procuring testing components.
To date, the city has found one national supplier for diagnostic test kits: Aria Diagnostics, a company based in Indiana.
The city will also open six new testing sites beginning this week targeting the city's roughly 400,000 public housing residents. On Saturday, Greg Russ, chairman of the New York City Housing Authority board, disclosed that six NYCHA workers had died, while 260 have been infected.
On Friday, three testing locations at public hospitals will open in Brooklyn, Bronx and Manhattan: Cumberland Health Center in Crown Heights, Belvis Health Center in Mott Haven, and Gouverneur Health Center in the Lower East Side.
Next week, three additional sites will open within NYCHA complexes in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan: Jonathan Williams Houses in Williamsburg, Woodside Houses in Woodside, St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem.
On Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a pilot program to provide healthcare at eight public housing complexes.
De Blasio also said that the city would do more outreach to seniors, ensuring that all those who needed food deliveries were receiving them as well as handing out 10,000 internet-enabled tablets to those who have been especially isolated from family and friends. Although the city has a meal delivery program for seniors, some have said the meals never arrived.
In an effort to revive some city traditions, the mayor also announced that he was in discussions with Macy's about its annual Fourth of July celebration.
"There’s definitely going to be fireworks," he said, adding, "This is a day we cannot miss. This is a celebration that has to happen because its about our nation, symbol of our strength and resiliency."
He said the city has yet to decide how it would enforce social distancing during the fireworks, but acknowledged that the event would be different this year.
Chinese Agents Reportedly Helped Amplify Disinformation About U.S. Lockdown
In mid-March, fake texts and messages were being sent to Americans suggesting that President Donald Trump would declare a “mandatory quarantine” or lockdown by using his powers from the Stafford Act. The New York Times now reports that U.S. intelligence agencies believe those were pushed as part of a disinformation campaign from Chinese agents.
According to the Times, “Two American officials stressed they did not believe Chinese operatives created the lockdown messages, but rather amplified existing ones. Those efforts enabled the messages to catch the attention of enough people that they then spread on their own, with little need for further work by foreign agents. The messages appeared to gain significant traction on Facebook as they were also proliferating through texts.”
Another message that was amplified claimed Trump was mobilizing the National Guard across the country.
New Yorkers may recall a message on March 12th, claiming to be from someone with a friend whose friend “works in the emergency management team at the NYPD” that discussed containment plans and recommending that people stock up. The Mayor’s office denied this was a real plan, with a spokesperson calling it “inaccurate info.”
The Wall Street Journal says that the U.S. State Department also believe that in addition to China, Russia and Iran are “accelerating” and “coordinating coronavirus disinformation," in part to distract Americans from the poor national public health response.
With Federal Help, NY State Aims To Double Testing Capacity
Following his meeting with President Donald Trump, Governor Andrew Cuomo said the federal government will assist New York so that it can double its coronavirus testing capacity from 20,000 to 40,000 tests a day.
"If we could double our tests, that would be a home run," Cuomo said during a press conference in Albany on Tuesday evening.
Testing has been considered the key to reopening the economy, because it will allow officials to estimate the percentage of the population that is infected or has been infected. New York plans to perform both diagnostic as well as antibody testing. The latter could indicate how many people may have built up immunity to the disease, but some early tests have proven to be flawed as some test manufacturers have rushed into the market without FDA approval. New York is currently conducting a statewide antibody testing survey of some 3,000 people.
Both the governor and the president described their meeting at the White House as "productive." Cuomo said that Trump had agreed to help states by fixing the national supply chain necessary to produce test kits, a request he has repeatedly made over the last week.
"It’s a really, really positive resolution," he said, thanking the president and his team.
He said he expected it would take several weeks before the state could begin ramping up testing.
But the question of funding was still not resolved. The latest $484 billion coronavirus relief package passed by the Senate on Tuesday included money for small businesses, hospitals and coronavirus testing, but no direct aid for states like New York, which is now facing a $10 billion to $15 billion budget deficit.
And expanded, sustained testing, Cuomo acknowledged, would be expensive. "We are working on the price tag," he said.
During his White House coronavirus press briefing, Trump said it would be handled in a future stimulus bill.
The governor blamed elected officials for failing to prioritize funding for states.
"It’s not politically sexy for them to fund the state," Cuomo said. "You give funding to a state. Who are you calling? Who even knows? It’s just giving money to another government."
He added: "I can’t do a budget on ‘Don’t worry, next time,’ especially when that promise has been made and repeatedly broken."
Tagged
covid-19 updates
coronavirus
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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