May 02, 2020
Dear Community,
As the weather gets warmer, we are more drawn to enjoying the outdoors. Please remember if you do go outside, to the park, for a picnic, or for a walk – you must wear a mask and practice safe social distancing from other individuals and groups. If we don’t all take precautions to protect ourselves and to protect each other, we risk ending up back where we started, in the worst days of this pandemic.
Today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the formation of a Regional State Purchasing Consortium with New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, to jointly procure personal protective equipment (PPE), tests, ventilators and other medical equipment to increase market power and bring down prices regionally. The Consortium will work together to identify the entire region's needs for these products, aggregate demand among the states, reduce costs and stabilize the supply chain.
To ensure New York’s hospitals are prepared for additional potential COVID-19 outbreaks, the Department of Health is requiring that hospitals build a supply of PPE that could last at least 90 days during another surge in hospitalizations.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City is embarking on a major effort to produce and provide test kits. Working in partnership with Print Parts, the city is on track to manufacture 50,000 3D-printed swabs. 30,000 of those swabs will be produced by this Friday and kits will be shipped to testing centers across the city. The city is also working in partnership with the Albert Einstein School of Medicine to locally produce viral transport media, necessary for the testing kits.
The GetFood Delivery Assistance Program is seeking nonprofit partners to increase capacity to prepare and distribute meals with a goal of delivering one million meals a day, up from the current 3.1 million a week. The city is seeking commercial kitchen capacity to prepare and package meals and is focusing on providing culturally sensitive and ethnic food. Additionally, the city is seeking nonprofits who can provide up to 300 staff to manage and staff distribution sites. Interested nonprofits can find more information here.
Face Covering Distribution Sites: The city will be giving out free face coverings across the five boroughs. Face Coverings are given out on a first come first serve basis. To get your face covering, go to the following Bronx locations:
- 5/4 from 10am - noon
- Rose Hill Park on the corner of Webster Avenue and East Fordham Road
- Rainey Park, Field House on Dawson Street and Longwood Avenue
- 5/4 from 2 pm-4 pm
- Soundview Park, Field House on Lafayette Avenue between Colgate Avenue and Boynton Avenue
- 5/5 from 12pm-2pm
- Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center
- Poe Park Visitor Center on East 192nd Street and East Kingsbridge Road
- 5/5 from 1pm - 3pm
- Mullaly Park, Skate Park House at East 164th Street and River Avenue
- Saint Mary’s Park Recreation Center at 450 St. Mary’s Avenue
School Board Election Update: School board elections and budget votes statewide are delayed until June 9, 2020. The school board elections and budget votes will all be conducted by mail and all qualified voters will be sent an absentee ballot with return postage paid. The Executive Order also delays local special district and village elections until September 15, 2020.
COVID-19 Related Resources:
- The Medicare Rights Center is hosting a free webinar on Thursday, May 7th. Learn about Medicare-covered services related to coronavirus, tips for enrolling in Medicare during the public health emergency, and more. To RSVP, click here.
- Coping with COVID Plan Coloring Book: Did you know art and reading are helpful ways for kids to process stressful life events? Created with children of essential workers in mind, Joey the Kangaroo and Her Coping with COVID Plan coloring book helps kids navigate the big emotions they might be experiencing during this pandemic. It was written by Lindsey Atkins, LCSW, a child psychotherapist and clinical instructor at UNC School of Medicine, and was illustrated by her friend and NYC resident Meg Martin, along with her mom Janeen, who lives in the Hudson Valley. Click the link to download, and please share with all of the essential worker parents or children in your life.
Virtual Happenings:
- Brooklyn Botanical Garden and Teatown Lake Reservation. Explore the beauty of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens here and the Teatown Lake Reservation here.
- Hip Hop Loves NY. If you missed the livestream of your favorite rapper and hip hop recording artists performing to benefit frontline workers, you can still watch and learn how to contribute here. To learn more about the Universal Hip Hop Museum, click here.
- Virtual Sustainability Series: Preserving the Tree Canopy. Attend this webinar on Wednesday, May 6th, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., hosted by the Environmental Coalition of the Pelhams (EcoPel) and Village of Pelham Climate Smart Communities Task Force. Register here.
Ways to Lend a Helping Hand:
- Become a Contact Tracer: New York State is hiring for the roles of contact tracer, team supervisor and community support specialist . New York City is also hiring contract tracers through the Fund for Public Health NYC, find those jobs here (preference to NYC residents).
- Support Your Fellow Bronxites: The Bronx Community Relief Fund was created to support on-the-ground operations that focus on meeting the most essential needs of the Bronx community. To learn how to help, click here.
- Give Blood, Save Lives: The NY Blood Center needs your help if you tested positive and have recovered from COVID-19. Click here to schedule an appointment and donate today.
- Support Local Businesses: To learn more about how to support your local businesses click on the links below.
- Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce
- Pelham List and Pelham Cares
- Bronx Chamber of Commerce
- City Island Chamber of Commerce
- To see how you can get involved for New York State, click here.
- For how to help in New York City, click here.
- For how to help in Westchester, go here.
As of today, May 3, 2020, nationwide there are 1,122,486 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 65,735 reported deaths. Worldwide there are 3,449,671 confirmed cases with 246,736 reported deaths.
In New York State, as of May 3rd, there are 312,977 confirmed cases. To date, New York has conducted 959,017 tests statewide.
As of May 3rd we have lost 19,189 New Yorkers to the virus.
Of the confirmed cases:
- 174,331 are located in New York City
- 36,780 are located in Nassau County
- 34,855 are located in Suffolk County
- 29,884 are located in Westchester County
- 12,025 are located in Rockland County
You can find the geographic breakdown of coronavirus cases by County here.
As of May 1st, the Westchester County breakdown is as follows:
- 124 are located in the Village of Pelham
- 83 are located in the Village of Pelham Manor
- 2,141 are located in Mount Vernon
As of May 3rd, the New York City borough breakdown is as follows:
- 38,599 in The Bronx
- 52,305 in Queens
- 44,867 in Brooklyn
- 20,693 in Manhattan
- 12,101 in Staten Island
You can find more information and data breakdowns here.
This is an evolving situation. For updated information on COVID-19 (in multiple languages) from trusted sources for your designated area, please visit: Center for Disease Control and Prevention, New York State Department of Health, Westchester County Department of Health, or the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
You can also call the New York State Novel Coronavirus Hotline at 1-888-364-3065 or the New York City Hotline at 1-844-NYC-4NYC with any questions.
While you are at home, don’t forget to fill out the Census! Let’s make our communities count! The self-response deadline has been extended through October. For more information, and to complete the census, you can click here.
If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to our newsletter here. You can access our previous email updates here.
Stay strong.
With Gratitude,
State Senator Alessandra Biaggi
0 comments:
Post a Comment