Antibody Study        

Today Governor Cuomo announced the preliminary Phase 1 results from the statewide antibody testing that has been running for the past two days. This testing was initiated to determine the prevalence of trace antibodies in individuals and to set a projected baseline of the population believed to have been infected with COVID-19 and since recovered. They have collected samples from 19 different counties and a total of 40 different grocery and big box stores across the state.

Phase 1 Results

  • 13.9% of those tested are positive for the antibody, meaning an estimated 2.7 million people in New York State have been infected
  • 12% of the females tested, were positive for the antibody
  • 15.9% of the males tested, were positive for the antibody
  • Regional Positive Results
    • Long Island ——————–16.7% of those tested were positive
    • NYC ——————————–21.2% of those tested were positive
    • Westchester/Rockland —–11.7% of those tested were positive
    • Rest of State ——————–3.6% of those tested were positive

Federal Funding

Governor Cuomo again articulated the need for the Federal government to step in and fund state government through additional legislation. The Governor expressed concern with US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the politicizing of the issue by stating that the Senator was “in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route” as a possible solution to the financial crunch they are dealing with. This is an unacceptable route for the Governor. 

Nursing Home Investigation

In conjunction with Attorney General Tish James, the state will be conducting an investigation into nursing homes to ensure they are providing proper care for residents who have tested positive for COVID-19. Currently nursing homes are required to have enough PPE for staff, isolate residents diagnosed with COVID, restrict visitors, and only readmit residents with or recovered from COVID who can be cared for properly. This comes after numbers were released showing that 25% of all COVID-related deaths statewide come from nursing homes. 

COVID-19 Numbers

We continue to appear to be on the far side of the COVID-19 plateau. All of the three-day average statistics are continuing to decrease except for the number of new cases that has been hovering around 1,300 additional new cases per day for a total of 263,460. The number of deaths in the State has increased by 438 since yesterday to 15,740 total.