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Coronavirus Updates: NY Sees Lowest Number Of COVID-19 Hospitalizations In Five Months

Jen Chung

and

Sophia Chang

Published Aug 15, 2020

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Arriving travelers walk by a COVID-19 travel advisory sign in the baggage claim area of Terminal B at New York City's LaGuardia Airport.

Kathy Willens/AP/Shutterstock

Jen Chung

and

Sophia Chang

Published Aug 15, 2020

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Saturday, August 15th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.

New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, and professional sports (without fans). 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.

Here's the latest:

The twin light display in Lower Manhattan in honor of 9/11 victims is back on.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum had announced Thursday that its annual Tribute in Light—the dual beams of light that commemorates the victims of the September 11th terror attacks— won’t be lit next month, with organizers citing the health risks of the pandemic to crews who help install the lights.

On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state will pay for additional health personnel to help the museum safely mount the tribute lights again.

"This year it is especially important that we all appreciate and commemorate 9/11, the lives lost, and the heroism displayed as New Yorkers are once again called upon to face a common enemy. I understand the Museum's concern for health and safety, and appreciate their reconsideration. The state will provide health personnel to supervise to make sure the event is held safely while at the same time properly honoring 9/11. We will never forget," Cuomo said.

NY Sees Lowest Number Of COVID-19 Hospitalizations In Five Months

11:15 a.m. New York had its lowest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since March 17th, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday.

There were five deaths from COVID-19 statewide, with one person in the Bronx, two people in Brooklyn and one person in Staten Island among the dead.

New York state recorded 523 hospitalizations. The number of patients in ICUs also went down, from 127 on Thursday to 120 on Friday.

The state is also testing at a record pace, with 88,668 tests results reported Friday of which 0.83% were positive, Cuomo’s office said. This marks the eighth straight day where positivity rates have been below 1%.

"In New York, we knew from the beginning that testing would be a key factor in controlling this new virus. We ramped up testing immediately and took a nation-leading role in developing capacity to test as many New Yorkers as possible, and I'm proud that we continue to raise the bar and we've broken our record high once again," Cuomo said in a press release Saturday. "Yesterday's numbers - especially the new low in hospitalizations - continue to reflect the progress we've made during this pandemic, but we will keep monitoring the data and the alarming increases in cases around the country. My message is the same: stay New York Smart, wash your hands, socially distance, and wear masks!"

NY Judge Dismisses Arizona Woman's Lawsuit Against Cuomo's Quarantine Mandate

10:30 a.m. An Arizona woman's claim that New York State's 14-day quarantine violated her constitutional rights was dismissed by a federal judge.

Cynthia Page sued New York State in July, arguing that the state's forced quarantine—which applies to dozens of states and territories—infringed on her "fundamental right to travel." She had planned to fly to the Big Apple on July 29th—"as it has been her lifelong dream to visit New York City"—to help a friend pack up her home in Brooklyn, but then Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that visitors from states including Arizona would be subject to a 14-day quarantine, because of the spike in COVID-19 cases. (Arizona's positivity rate is currently 12.2%, significantly higher than NY State's, which is around 1%.)

The travel advisory put a hold to the plans, which Page claims is causing "irreparable harm to herself and others." The lawsuit also contests that Cuomo's order was a political ploy from a "Blue State" against "Red States," adding, "The State of New York is not an independent country. The Governor of New York does not have dictatorial powers that permit him to require healthy, law-abiding citizens to remain quarantined, which is akin to a house arrest, for fourteen days as a condition on their right to freely travel in and through the State of New York." The advisory was also called "arbitrary, capricious, and irrational."

However, U.S. District Court Judge David N. Hurd cited a 1905 Supreme Court ruling, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, which involved a man who did not want to get a smallpox vaccination. According to the Times Union, "That ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of Massachusetts (the man was fined $5), has been the seminal case for more than a century governing restrictions imposed by government agencies during public health crises. In the Jacobson case, the court found that the man's personal liberty interest was outweighed by the state's interest in protecting the public, and that a guarantee of individual liberty is not an absolute right against restraint."

Hurd denied Page's wish for an injunction, pointing out, "states around the country are grappling with an unfolding public health crisis," and writing, "Jacobson was decided just after the turn of the last century, at a time when medical science was in its adolescence if not still in its infancy. Because it endorses an approach to constitutional analysis that has fallen out of fashion, it is admittedly strange—and even a little alarming—to discover that Jacobson is still considered the right tool for evaluating state action taken to protect public health. Yet unless and until the Supreme Court revisits Jacobson and fashions a test that demands a more particularized showing from public health officials in light of the unbelievable medical achievements of the twenty-first century, it remains a complete roadblock to Page's claims."

David Yerushalmi, Page's lawyer, told the Post, "We thought the judge’s decision was thoughtful but wrong... Judge Hurd has responded out of the fear of the pandemic but has ignored basic constitutional law."

However, James Cohen, a professor at Fordham Law School, discussed forced quarantines with Gothamist in May, and said, "The so-called 'police power' is very powerful. It doesn't permit people to be locked up at random. But if there's a good reason, in particular a public health reason to quarantine someone and to impose limitations on their, sort of, travel, their exposure to others, then there's no question that the state has the authority to do it."

Yerushalmi has filed an appeal on behalf of Page.

Tagged

COVID-19

coronavirus

covid-19 updates

quarantine

travel advisory

Jen Chung

Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Sophia Chang

Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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