Updates from White House Meeting
This afternoon Governor Cuomo met in Washington D.C. with President Trump and members of his staff to discuss a number of COVID-related issues. As part of their discussion the Governor stated this evening that the Federal government will work with testing manufacturers to increase production of testing materials while the State will be taking the lead with in-state laboratories to increase the antibody and diagnostic testing capacity from 20,000 tests per day to 40,000, which will likely take a number of weeks to do. On the latest federal stimulus bill which was announced earlier, the Governor said he understands the need to continue to fund businesses but that he asked the President to consider additional funding for state and local governments who are on the front lines of this crisis.
The Governor also stated that the State will be returning the USNS Comfort in the near future as the need for additional beds is declining and other states are nearing their peak.
From a State budget perspective, the Governor announced that an updated State financial plan would be forthcoming in the next couple of days.
Regional Approach to Reopening
Shifting from his recent emphasis on New York State as a single entity, Governor Cuomo today announced that officials will begin assessing the State region-by-region in an effort to reopen the economy as early as practicable. As part of this effort, the Governor named Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul as the point person on Western New York public health and reopening strategies, and he named former Lieutenant Governor Bob Duffy as a volunteer special advisor to coordinate these strategies in the Finger Lakes region. At a press event yesterday, the Governor suggested the regions would likely mirror the State’s 10 economic development regions.
The Governor insisted that any reopening decisions will be strictly data-driven, relying on factors including infection and hospitalization rates and regional hospital capacity.
White House Meeting with President Trump
Governor Cuomo will be meeting with President Trump at the White House at 3pm today. The stated purpose of this meeting is federal-state cooperation on bringing COVID-19 testing to scale.
Elective Outpatient Treatment
The State will begin allowing elective outpatient treatments in counties and hospitals without significant near-term risk of a COVID-19 surge. Such treatments can resume on April 28, 2020, according to guidelines that can be found here.
Restrictions on elective surgery will remain in place in Bronx, Queens, Rockland, Nassau, Clinton, Yates, Westchester, Albany, Richmond, Schuyler, Kings, Suffolk, New York, Dutchess, Sullivan, Ulster, Erie, Orange and Rensselaer counties as the State continues to monitor the rate of new COVID-19 infections.
New York City
Mayor de Blasio today announced the City will seek to stockpile emergency reserves of ventilators, surgical gowns, face shields and testing kits to in preparation for a second outbreak of the coronavirus. The mayor noted the city will manufacture face shields and surgical gowns at facilities such as the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The Mayor also said he doesn’t believe the Macy’s July 4th Fireworks display will be able to happen this year. This news comes on top of the Mayor announcing all permits for parades and other public events will be denied in May and June.
The New York City Council will hold its first Remote Stated (ie, legislative session) Meeting tomorrow at 2pm. The Council will vote on a number of zoning-related bills and introduce legislation to be considered at a later date.
New York City-specific COVID-19 updates from all major administrative agencies, including the Department of Buildings, City Planning, Citywide Administrative Services, the Department of Finance and the Department of Transportation can be found here.
Marriage Officiants Executive Order:
A few days ago, the Governor issued an Executive Order providing for remote solmization of marriages and extending pending marriage licenses. On Sunday, the Governor issued another Executive Order clarifying that any marriage officiants defined by NYS law can perform such remote marriages.
COVID-19 Numbers
The Governor again states that we appear to be on the far side of the COVID-19 plateau, with all of the three-day average statistics continuing to decrease slowly. The number of deaths in the State has increased by 481 since yesterday to 14,828 total.
