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Coronavirus Updates: Cuomo Praises "Massive Undertaking" Of Subway Cleaning, Dodges Questions On Rent Relief, Helping Homeless
By
Jen Chung
and
Christopher Robbins
Published May 2, 2020
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Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
By
Jen Chung
and
Christopher Robbins
Published May 2, 2020
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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Saturday May 2nd, 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.
1:00 p.m. Governor Andrew Cuomo held his daily briefing at the MTA's maintenance facility in Flushing, Queens. The governor viewed a demonstration of how the transit agency plans to disinfect every single train while subway service completely shuts down between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., beginning on May 6.
"This is such a massive undertaking, I can't even begin to describe it to you," Cuomo told reporters, noting that some studies have shown that COVID-19 can survive on stainless steel surfaces for up to three days. "Literally you have to go through the whole train with a misting device."
Cuomo acknowledged that ending 24-hour subway service was unprecedented, but insisted it was necessary to protect "the essential workers who have kept this entire society functioning and have done an extraordinary job."
"We want them to know that we're doing everything we can do to keep them safe," Cuomo said.
The governor said that while new COVID-19 hospitalizations have declined slightly, deaths are still "obnoxiously and terrifyingly high"—299 New Yorkers died from the virus on May 1, compared to 289 on April 30 and 306 from April 29.
The state now has antibody results from 15,000 people, and the positive rate in New York City is just under 20 percent. The governor said this was good news because the percentage was trending down, but still cautioned that public health officials were trying to interpret the information.
Shutting down the subway system means that the MTA and the NYPD will have to eject New Yorkers who seek shelter on trains. Earlier this week, Cuomo called the presence of homeless New Yorkers on subway trains "disgusting."
Asked if he was providing more resources or hotel rooms to house the homeless, or if he would ask FEMA to help housing them, the governor sidestepped the question. He insisted that the state was already allocating an "unprecedented amount in housing and services for the homeless."
"We have funding for local governments, it's up to the local governments" to provide those services, Cuomo said.
The governor was also asked about providing rent relief to New Yorkers, after thousands pledged to go on a rent strike for the month of May.
Cuomo declined to say whether he supported rent relief, and reiterated the fact that he has placed a moratorium on evictions until June.
"If you can pay the rent you should pay the rent, right?" Cuomo replied. "I'm not saying don't pay if you can pay, there's a morality in this, and if you can't pay....you cannot be evicted."
He added, "Come June, we'll see where we are and figure it out."
At the end of the press conference, the governor was asked about raising taxes on billionaires to help prevent massive cuts to localities given the state's large budget deficits. Cuomo didn't respond.
Of course, the governor's office shot video of Cuomo cleaning a subway car.
11:15 a.m.: The NYPD is preparing for New Yorkers wanting to enjoy the beautiful weekend on Saturday. The department, whether through social media posts or an appearance by Chief of the Department Terence Monahan on WCBS 2, is stressing that people must follow social distancing guidelines of staying six feet apart from people you don't know:
"This weekend, in anticipation of the warm weather, more than 1,000 NYPD officers will be out citywide to ensure that members of the public engage in social distancing," the NYPD said in a statement on Friday. "The public should expect to see social distancing patrol officers on foot, on bikes and in vehicles ensuring that social distancing procedures are followed and educating the public about those procedures so we can all help stop the spread of the coronavirus and keep all New Yorkers safe and healthy."
The NYPD also noted that since March 16th, there have been 60 arrests and 343 summons, all related to social distancing, issued. Social distancing enforcement has become more fraught for Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD after an ultra-Orthodox funeral, which was apparently coordinated with the police, turned into a huge gathering in Williamsburg. Another ultra-Orthodox funeral, this time in Borough Park, resulted in an NYPD crackdown.
10 a.m.: On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an article titled, "Public Health Response to the Initiation and Spread of Pandemic COVID-19 in the United States, February 24–April 21, 2020," describing what the United States did to address the coronavirus. And its lead author, Dr. Anne Schuchat, told the AP that the country should have stopped travel from Europe much sooner: "We clearly didn’t recognize the full importations that were happening."
While President Donald Trump banned some travelers who had been to China in early February, the AP reports that "Schuchat noted that nearly 2 million travelers arrived in the U.S. from Italy and other European countries during February. The U.S. government didn’t block travel from there until March 11."
Schuchat explained to the AP, "The extensive travel from Europe, once Europe was having outbreaks, really accelerated our importations and the rapid spread. I think the timing of our travel alerts should have been earlier.”
New York and New Jersey represent almost 450,000 of all COVID-19 cases in the U.S. (there are more than 1.1 million nationally), and the strain of virus in most of the New York area cases is from Europe.
Jason Schwartz, assistant professor of health policy at the Yale School of Public Health, told the AP, "This report seems to challenge the idea that the China travel ban in late January was instrumental in changing the trajectory of this pandemic in the United States."
Schwartz also noted, "The degree to which CDC’s public presence has been so diminished ... is one of the most striking and frankly puzzling aspects of the federal government’s response."
The CDC report also says that gatherings helped accelerate the spread, like the "Mardi Gras celebrations in Louisiana with more than 1 million attendees, an international professional conference held in Boston, Massachusetts, with approximately 175 attendees, and a funeral in Albany, Georgia, with more than 100 attendees. In the weeks after these events, amplifications in the host locations contributed to increasing U.S. case counts."
Further, the CDC identified "critical factors contributing to COVID-19 spread in New York":
Population density
- New York City’s boroughs represent the top four population-dense U.S. counties.
- Reliance on mass transit (subways, buses, and ferries) results in frequent, prolonged close contact.
- High prevalence of apartment living contributed to household spread.
Domestic and global destination
- Three major airports serve as domestic and global hubs, serving >1 million air passengers per week.
- Approximately 1.6 million persons commute into Manhattan daily during the work week, primarily using mass transit.
Large number of crowded settings housing vulnerable populations
- Long-term care facilities, skilled nursing facilities: At least 80 facilities in the state have reported five or more cases as of April 21; initial infections were noted in early March.
- Correctional institutions: As of April 21, incidence in Department of Corrections and Community Supervision facilities was approximately seven times that in the state overall.
- Homeless shelters: As of the week of April 21, approximately 600 cases were confirmed among shelter residents and other persons experiencing homelessness.
Large gatherings
- Initial cases in Westchester County were associated with attendance at large gatherings in late February.
- All types of large work and social gatherings accelerated transmission across jurisdictional boundaries.
Governor Andrew Cuomo continued to complain about the lack of warnings he and other governors were given about the pandemic. During an interview on WAMC with Alan Chartock on Friday, the governor lamented, "We need an answer to the question. How did this happen back in November and December?"
"There was a virus in China. Everybody knew there was a virus in China. Everybody knows that their airplanes—where was November? Where was December? Where was January? They get to last month and they tell us this virus came from Europe, it didn't even come from China. It had left China by the time we did the China ban, and went to Europe, and then it came from Europe. 2 million passengers came from Europe. Nobody said anything. And then we wind up with it here in New York, New Jersey, because he got off a plane. How did it happen?"
Cuomo added, "Governors don't do global pandemics... But we have to make sure there's an early warning system. So this doesn't happen again."
Tagged
COVID-19
covid-19 updates
coronavirus
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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