15 May 2020
Maryfran Wachunas
Public Health Commissioner
Rensselaer County Department of Health
Ned Pattison Government Center
1600 7th Ave
2nd Floor
Troy, NY 12180
RE: "State antibody testing results murky as officials decline to release raw data - Questions remain about effectiveness and utility of tests as local leaders are left in the dark" by Cayla Harris and Amanda Fries, Albany Times Union, May 7, 2020; Inane and ignorant statements by Rensselaer County Director of Operations Richard Christ
Dear Commissioner Wachunas:
By way of review, and here I am speaking as a licensed professional engineer further qualified to practice at the associate level as a public health engineer who is quite familiar with the history of the Rensselaer County Health District and Health Department going back to 1946, according to the official record, on 8 January 2020, the CDC issued a health alert with respect to COVID-19 which was distributed to state and local health officers, state and local epidemiologists, state and local laboratory directors, public information officers, HAN coordinators, and clinician organizations, which distribution presumably included yourself as the local health officer in the Rensselaer County Health District.
Thereafter, despite that CDC alert to your office as Rensselaer County Health Commissioner concerning the very real threat of COVID-19, nothing happened in Rensselaer County for the next fifty-four (54) days, until 2 March 2020, at which time Rensselaer Couty put out a misleading and false press release entitled "Rensselaer County Officials Working with State and Federal Officials on Coronavirus Issue," wherein we Rensselaer County residents were informed as follows, to wit:
With confirmed cases of coronavirus in the nation and the state, Rensselaer County health officials took part in calls with the Centers for Disease Control and the New York State Department of Health regarding the issue.
At this time, there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the county.
Federal and state health officials have termed the spread of the illness nationally and in the state as “isolated” cases.
“We want residents to know that our team at the Health Department is monitoring this situation closely and working with state and federal officials to share information and get updates."
"However, there is no need for undue concern or worry,” said County Executive Steve McLaughlin.
“We have been informed that New York State remains at a low risk for coronavirus."
"While we are at a low risk, residents are advised to take simple but effective steps to reduce exposure to all communicable diseases,” said Public Health Director Maryfran Wachunas.
end quotes
As we now know, that glib information was in fact false, which raises the very serious question of incompetence and gross negligence or worse on your part as the Rensselaer County Health Commissioner, unless you wish us to believe that the state health department and the CDC were outright lying to you and the County Executive, himself having no role in the Rensselaer County Health District, given his total lack of public health education or training.
Absent proof of that, the assumption right now which is born out by the record, is that it was you and the County Executive who were lying to us when we were informed in that 2 March 2020 press release that there was no need for undue concern or worry about COVID-19, when obviously, there was, although for all those people who have died because of your incompetence or negligence and that lie, it is a bit late for them now, which raises the question of why are you still in office as the Rensselaer County Health Commissioner when you obviously cannot be trusted with the responsibility, which takes us to the May 7, 2020 Albany Times article entitled "State antibody testing results murky as officials decline to release raw data - Questions remain about effectiveness and utility of tests as local leaders are left in the dark" by Cayla Harris and Amanda Fries, where we county residents were treated to the following from Richard Christ, who also has no role to play in the Rensselaer County Health District because like the County Executive, Mr. Christ has no experience or training as a public health professional, to wit:
In Rensselaer County, Crist said they have similar questions and concerns on immunity as well as whether there are other strains of the virus.
“I think there is a lot we don’t know about this disease, and antibody testing will probably give us a window into the precursors of COVID-19,” he said.
end quotes
Given that on 1 May 2020, six (6) days before Mr. Christ made those public statements in the Times Union about Rensselaer County officials, presumably yourself, not knowing much if anything about COVID-19, an incredible statement given the plethora of technical information available on COVID-19, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which you should have received as Rensselaer Coumnty Health Commissioner, entitled "Public Health Response to the Initiation and Spread of Pandemic COVID-19 in the United States, February 24–April 21, 2020" by Anne Schuchat, MD; CDC COVID-19 Response Team, gave a complete run-down as to what was then known about COVID-19, we can see that the 7 May 2020 public statements of Mr. Christ as a Rensselaer County Health Department spokesperson were both ignorant and uninformed, which seems to be a continuation of the ignorance broadcast in the 2 March 2020 press release about COVID-19 being nothing to worry about, to wit:
Genomic analysis of outbreak strains suggested an introduction from China to the state of Washington around February 1.
However, examination of strains collected from northern California during early February to mid-March indicated multiple introductions resulting from international travel (from China and Europe) as well as from interstate travel.
Sequencing of strains collected in the New York metropolitan area in March also suggested origins in Europe and other U.S. regions.
end quotes
Given the availability of this information to your office on 1 May 2020, why are we hearing ignorant drivel from Rich Christ in the Times Union six (6) days later where he implies or states that you are not competent enough to understand that information from the CDC, or you simply ignored it, like was the case with the 8 January 2020 HAN Alert about COVID?
Why are we still saddled in Rensselaer County with a health department that is a threat to our public health and well-being in Rensselaer County, just as it was in 1988?
Why are we hearing about COVID-19 from unqualified and ignorant persons like Richard Christ who knows nothing of public health?
As a life-long Rensselaer County resident who is a grandfather over the age of seventy, I would like to know.
Sincerely,
Paul Plante, PE
COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
NEWS10 ABC
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update Friday, May 15"
News
Posted: May 15, 2020 / 05:14 PM EDT / Updated: May 15, 2020 / 05:14 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin says opening the economy is the most important goal of the county.
He says there is a discrepancy between the county’s and the state’s numbers.
McLaughlin says the county has done what the state asked, flattened the curve and now it’s time to allow businesses to start reopening.
He’s calling on the state to review the numbers which would allow the county to reopen sooner rather than later.
There have been 458 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Rensselaer County and 27 deaths.
Another death at Diamond Hill Nursing Home puts the death toll there at 15.
Five residents are currently in the hospital, none are in the ICU.
Two hundred eighty-nine individuals have recovered from the virus.
The county has tested 5,597 individuals and 650 are in quarantine.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... ay-may-15/
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update Friday, May 15"
News
Posted: May 15, 2020 / 05:14 PM EDT / Updated: May 15, 2020 / 05:14 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin says opening the economy is the most important goal of the county.
He says there is a discrepancy between the county’s and the state’s numbers.
McLaughlin says the county has done what the state asked, flattened the curve and now it’s time to allow businesses to start reopening.
He’s calling on the state to review the numbers which would allow the county to reopen sooner rather than later.
There have been 458 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Rensselaer County and 27 deaths.
Another death at Diamond Hill Nursing Home puts the death toll there at 15.
Five residents are currently in the hospital, none are in the ICU.
Two hundred eighty-nine individuals have recovered from the virus.
The county has tested 5,597 individuals and 650 are in quarantine.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... ay-may-15/
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
THE TROY RECORD
"Rensselaer County clears 15 more COVID-19 cases"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
15 May 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — The county made progress with 15 new COVID-19 cases cleared for recovery and nearly 300 tests in one day.
The county now has 289 cases cleared, with 5,597 tests administered to county residents.
"Having 15 cases cleared in one day is good news, and shows we are making progress in the fight against COVID-19."
"We have nearly 300 cases cleared, and we definitely welcome that news," Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said.
Meanwhile, eight new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department, it was announced Friday.
The county now has 458 confirmed cases.
Along with the new confirmed cases, the county also announced the death of a 76-year-old female resident at the Diamond Hill adult care facility.
The death is the county's 27th death from COVID-19 and the 15th death at Diamond Hill.
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 70-year-old North Greenbush man.
• A new case involving a 46-year-old Rensselaer woman.
• A new case involving a 26-year-old Troy woman.
• A new case involving a four-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a 14-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a nine-year-old Troy boy.
• A new case involving a four-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a 44-year-old Troy woman.
There are now five residents in the hospital and none in the ICU.
There are approximately 650 residents in monitor quarantine.
"Hospitalizations have been reduced in Rensselaer County, which hopefully helps us meet the metrics set by the state for reopening," McLaughlin said.
"The state has reported that Rensselaer County has 11 residents hospitalized, when the correct number is much lower."
"We are frustrated the state is not correctly calculating these figures needed for reopening," McLaughlin added.
The IMA Group with Lab Corp will be testing at Hudson Valley Community College Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
People can make appointments by calling 1-800-245-4245, although appointments are not necessary.
McLaughlin continued to say that he believes the county and the region is ready to begin phase one of reopening.
“We need to open up for phase one so that we can get people going again,” McLaughlin said.
"The main thing right now is to get this economy open and to continue to do social distancing."
"We believe we can begin the process to carefully open some areas of our society, while maintaining social distancing and safety protocols that have helped during the past three months."
"A balanced approach will protect health and safety while providing us some quality of life," McLaughlin added.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 154
East Greenbush - 48
Nassau - 7
Brunswick - 21
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 30
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 72 *
Pittstown - 9
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 28
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 30
20 to 29 - 87
30 to 39 - 79
40 to 49 - 49
50 to 59 - 69
60 to 69 - 55
70 to 79 - 48
80 to 89 - 22
90 to 99 - 19
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 1392f.html
"Rensselaer County clears 15 more COVID-19 cases"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
15 May 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — The county made progress with 15 new COVID-19 cases cleared for recovery and nearly 300 tests in one day.
The county now has 289 cases cleared, with 5,597 tests administered to county residents.
"Having 15 cases cleared in one day is good news, and shows we are making progress in the fight against COVID-19."
"We have nearly 300 cases cleared, and we definitely welcome that news," Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said.
Meanwhile, eight new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department, it was announced Friday.
The county now has 458 confirmed cases.
Along with the new confirmed cases, the county also announced the death of a 76-year-old female resident at the Diamond Hill adult care facility.
The death is the county's 27th death from COVID-19 and the 15th death at Diamond Hill.
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 70-year-old North Greenbush man.
• A new case involving a 46-year-old Rensselaer woman.
• A new case involving a 26-year-old Troy woman.
• A new case involving a four-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a 14-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a nine-year-old Troy boy.
• A new case involving a four-year-old Troy girl.
• A new case involving a 44-year-old Troy woman.
There are now five residents in the hospital and none in the ICU.
There are approximately 650 residents in monitor quarantine.
"Hospitalizations have been reduced in Rensselaer County, which hopefully helps us meet the metrics set by the state for reopening," McLaughlin said.
"The state has reported that Rensselaer County has 11 residents hospitalized, when the correct number is much lower."
"We are frustrated the state is not correctly calculating these figures needed for reopening," McLaughlin added.
The IMA Group with Lab Corp will be testing at Hudson Valley Community College Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
People can make appointments by calling 1-800-245-4245, although appointments are not necessary.
McLaughlin continued to say that he believes the county and the region is ready to begin phase one of reopening.
“We need to open up for phase one so that we can get people going again,” McLaughlin said.
"The main thing right now is to get this economy open and to continue to do social distancing."
"We believe we can begin the process to carefully open some areas of our society, while maintaining social distancing and safety protocols that have helped during the past three months."
"A balanced approach will protect health and safety while providing us some quality of life," McLaughlin added.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 154
East Greenbush - 48
Nassau - 7
Brunswick - 21
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 30
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 72 *
Pittstown - 9
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 28
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 30
20 to 29 - 87
30 to 39 - 79
40 to 49 - 49
50 to 59 - 69
60 to 69 - 55
70 to 79 - 48
80 to 89 - 22
90 to 99 - 19
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 1392f.html
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
Newsday
"LI hospitals sent hundreds of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes, rehabs at peak of pandemic"
By Craig Schneider craig.schneider@newsday.com @Scraigo
Updated May 17, 2020 4:10 PM
Long Island hospitals sent hundreds of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes and rehabs during the peak of the health crisis in March and April, according to figures from area hospitals.
The wave of patients was largely facilitated by a state order on March 25, which said nursing homes could not refuse a person simply because they were COVID-19 positive.
Nursing homes, however, did not have to accept the patients if they could not care for them safely, the order said.
The state’s mandate came under withering criticism from nursing home officials and families of residents, who say the move introduced sick people into settings ill-prepared to protect the most vulnerable people.
Nassau and Suffolk counties have more than 1,200 confirmed and presumed COVID-19 deaths reported at nursing homes and adult facilities.
A scramble in mid-March
The surge of patients into nursing homes is slowing as the numbers of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decrease over time, hospital officials said.
And on May 10, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that COVID-19 patients must test negative for the virus before entering a nursing home.
But by the middle of March, coronavirus was sickening thousands of New Yorkers, sometimes in a single day.
Long Island hospitals were scrambling to expand bed capacity, building field hospitals, and transforming operating rooms, conference centers and recovery units into COVID-19 areas for patients.
There was pressure to “help an unprecedented hospital bed capacity issue,” said Dr. Maria Carney, medical director of post-acute medicine at Northwell Health.
In addition, the hospitals found that many COVID-19 patients, especially the elderly, required significant care even after they were discharged from the hospital, Carney said.
Northwell, which has 12 of its 19 hospitals on the Island, said it released a total of 1,006 of its 9,498 COVID-19 discharges, or 10.6%, to nursing homes and rehabs from March 1 to May 3, officials said.
Catholic Health System, composed of six hospitals on Long Island, sent 530 of its 2,291 discharges, or 23%, to nursing homes or rehabs in March and April, officials said.
CHS went so far as to create a Post-Hospital COVID-19 Discharge Unit to smooth the transition.
CHS executive vice president Dennis Verzi praised Cuomo’s latest order as positive step toward protecting a fragile population.
“Although there might be a slight increase in the length of hospital stays as a result of this order, we don’t anticipate a significant negative impact on the number of hospital beds available,” Verzi said.
Stony Brook University Hospital released 167 of its 1,085 COVID-19 discharges, or 15%, to nursing homes or rehabs in March and April, officials said.
Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital said it released 256 of its 737 discharges, or 35%, to nursing homes and rehab during that period.
Nassau University Medical Center said it released 56 of its 537 discharges, or 10%, to nursing homes and rehab for the same time frame.
Carney, of Northwell Health, said it’s too early to anticipate the full impact of Cuomo’s latest order.
She said she expects some patients will end up staying in the hospital longer.
Carney said the hospitals are finding that some elderly patients are still testing positive for as long as six weeks.
Some are testing positive even though they are no longer contagious, she said.
She believes these people are a small percentage of the COVID-19 patients.
“We’re trying to quantify this population and determine the safest plan,” Carney said.
“Whether we should keep them where they are, transfer to an alternative care site, or try to identify skilled nursing facilities that can be COVID-safe.”
A nursing home strained
Hospitals sent a total of 58 COVID-19 patients to Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Commack in March and April, said facility president Stuart Almer.
Almer said Gurwin is suffering financially because of the added expenses of treating these residents, such as creating an isolated unit for them and paying for some ventilators as well as overtime and hazard pay for staff.
Moreover, the nursing home is not seeing people come in for rehabilitation after elective surgeries such as knee and hip replacements, because hospitals have largely stopped doing these operations amid the crisis, he said.
He said the 460-bed facility is customarily full but is currently down 104 beds.
A total of 49 residents there died due to COVID-19, he said.
Beyond that, Almer said he worries about the new state mandate that calls for testing staff twice a week, which he said could cost the facility $300,000 a week.
“This is an impact in the millions,” he said.
By Craig Schneider
craig.schneider@newsday.com @Scraigo
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
https://www.newsday.com/news/health/cor ... 1.44701556
"LI hospitals sent hundreds of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes, rehabs at peak of pandemic"
By Craig Schneider craig.schneider@newsday.com @Scraigo
Updated May 17, 2020 4:10 PM
Long Island hospitals sent hundreds of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes and rehabs during the peak of the health crisis in March and April, according to figures from area hospitals.
The wave of patients was largely facilitated by a state order on March 25, which said nursing homes could not refuse a person simply because they were COVID-19 positive.
Nursing homes, however, did not have to accept the patients if they could not care for them safely, the order said.
The state’s mandate came under withering criticism from nursing home officials and families of residents, who say the move introduced sick people into settings ill-prepared to protect the most vulnerable people.
Nassau and Suffolk counties have more than 1,200 confirmed and presumed COVID-19 deaths reported at nursing homes and adult facilities.
A scramble in mid-March
The surge of patients into nursing homes is slowing as the numbers of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decrease over time, hospital officials said.
And on May 10, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that COVID-19 patients must test negative for the virus before entering a nursing home.
But by the middle of March, coronavirus was sickening thousands of New Yorkers, sometimes in a single day.
Long Island hospitals were scrambling to expand bed capacity, building field hospitals, and transforming operating rooms, conference centers and recovery units into COVID-19 areas for patients.
There was pressure to “help an unprecedented hospital bed capacity issue,” said Dr. Maria Carney, medical director of post-acute medicine at Northwell Health.
In addition, the hospitals found that many COVID-19 patients, especially the elderly, required significant care even after they were discharged from the hospital, Carney said.
Northwell, which has 12 of its 19 hospitals on the Island, said it released a total of 1,006 of its 9,498 COVID-19 discharges, or 10.6%, to nursing homes and rehabs from March 1 to May 3, officials said.
Catholic Health System, composed of six hospitals on Long Island, sent 530 of its 2,291 discharges, or 23%, to nursing homes or rehabs in March and April, officials said.
CHS went so far as to create a Post-Hospital COVID-19 Discharge Unit to smooth the transition.
CHS executive vice president Dennis Verzi praised Cuomo’s latest order as positive step toward protecting a fragile population.
“Although there might be a slight increase in the length of hospital stays as a result of this order, we don’t anticipate a significant negative impact on the number of hospital beds available,” Verzi said.
Stony Brook University Hospital released 167 of its 1,085 COVID-19 discharges, or 15%, to nursing homes or rehabs in March and April, officials said.
Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital said it released 256 of its 737 discharges, or 35%, to nursing homes and rehab during that period.
Nassau University Medical Center said it released 56 of its 537 discharges, or 10%, to nursing homes and rehab for the same time frame.
Carney, of Northwell Health, said it’s too early to anticipate the full impact of Cuomo’s latest order.
She said she expects some patients will end up staying in the hospital longer.
Carney said the hospitals are finding that some elderly patients are still testing positive for as long as six weeks.
Some are testing positive even though they are no longer contagious, she said.
She believes these people are a small percentage of the COVID-19 patients.
“We’re trying to quantify this population and determine the safest plan,” Carney said.
“Whether we should keep them where they are, transfer to an alternative care site, or try to identify skilled nursing facilities that can be COVID-safe.”
A nursing home strained
Hospitals sent a total of 58 COVID-19 patients to Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Commack in March and April, said facility president Stuart Almer.
Almer said Gurwin is suffering financially because of the added expenses of treating these residents, such as creating an isolated unit for them and paying for some ventilators as well as overtime and hazard pay for staff.
Moreover, the nursing home is not seeing people come in for rehabilitation after elective surgeries such as knee and hip replacements, because hospitals have largely stopped doing these operations amid the crisis, he said.
He said the 460-bed facility is customarily full but is currently down 104 beds.
A total of 49 residents there died due to COVID-19, he said.
Beyond that, Almer said he worries about the new state mandate that calls for testing staff twice a week, which he said could cost the facility $300,000 a week.
“This is an impact in the millions,” he said.
By Craig Schneider
craig.schneider@newsday.com @Scraigo
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
https://www.newsday.com/news/health/cor ... 1.44701556
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
"Cuomo on nursing homes' response: 'We can't save every life' - Western New York to reopen; Cuomo urges sports teams to start up without stadium fans"PRESS RELEASE
March 1, 2020
Albany, NY
Governor Cuomo Issues Statement Regarding Novel Coronavirus in New York
"This evening we learned of the first positive case of novel coronavirus — or COVID-19 — in New York State."
"The patient, a woman in her late thirties, contracted the virus while traveling abroad in Iran, and is currently isolated in her home."
"The patient has respiratory symptoms, but is not in serious condition and has been in a controlled situation since arriving to New York."
"The positive test was confirmed by New York's Wadsworth Lab in Albany, underscoring the importance of the ability for our state to ensure efficient and rapid turnaround, and is exactly why I advocated for the approval from Vice President Pence that New York was granted just yesterday."
"There is no cause for surprise -- this was expected."
"As I said from the beginning, it was a matter of when, not if there would be a positive case of novel coronavirus in New York."
"Last week I called for the Legislature to pass a $40 million emergency management authorization to confront this evolving situation -- I look forward to its swift passage."
"There is no reason for undue anxiety -- the general risk remains low in New York."
"We are diligently managing this situation and will continue to provide information as it becomes available."
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/govern ... s-new-york
Brendan J. Lyons, Albany, New York Times Union
May 18, 2020 |Updated: May 18, 2020 6:33 p.m.
ALBANY — Facing intensifying criticism of his administration's handling of nursing homes in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday said New York had a high number of fatalities in those facilities "not because we did anything wrong" but due — at least in part — to bad luck.
"From day one we said that this was going to be hard, and we said that we drew bad cards in this hand," Cuomo said, noting that New York has had the nation's highest number of COVID-19 infections and deaths, including more than 5,700 fatalities in nursing homes.
The governor, who was in Buffalo on Monday to announce that western New York will begin its first phase of reopening, again attributed the high number of cases in New York to the several million overseas' travelers who flew to the state — and other U.S. destinations — after the virus had already been spreading in Europe.
New York's first confirmed case, announced March 1, was a health care worker from Manhattan who returned to New York City after contracting the virus while traveling in Iran, which is in Western Asia.
Cuomo has repeatedly cautioned that that COVID-19 can spread "like fire through grass" in nursing homes.
But an executive order he issued in March requiring nursing homes to accept residents who had tested positive for COVID-19 — most of them returning to their assisted-living residences after being discharged from hospitals — has faced intense scrutiny.
That order has since been adjusted to limit hospitals from discharging patients to nursing homes if they are infected with COVID-19.
"We have over 600 nursing homes (in New York)."
"We’ve had one of the best nursing home systems in the country for a long period of time," Cuomo said.
"You could always have people who say that we should do more."
"… That always happens."
A delegation of federal lawmakers from New York, including U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, last week called for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to investigate the state’s safety and health guidance for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities during the pandemic.
On Saturday, Stefanik said she came under attack from Cuomo's office for seeking a federal investigation, noting that a spokesperson for the governor had urged the congresswoman "to do something we understand is uncomfortable for her: stop political pandering and fear-mongering.”
A spokeswoman for the congresswoman called the remarks "shameful" and added: "Thousands of people across the state are devastated by the loss of their parents and grandparents due to contracting COVID-19 in a nursing home, and they need answers."
Cuomo on Monday asserted that New York has done more than any other state to help nursing homes, including last week requiring that nursing home workers are tested twice a week for coronavirus.
The state planned to distribute 320,000 testing kits to those facilities on Monday, he said.
"We still can’t save every life, but we can do everything in our power to do to try to save every life, and that’s why I’m comfortable with what we’re doing on nursing homes," the governor said.
"If you see an increase among staff, it’s an alert that you probably have a problem in that nursing home."
"… If you watch what happens with the staff, it’s a canary in a coal mine with what’s happening in the nursing home."
"...With everything we’re doing, I know the nursing homes' operators are not happy about this."
"… It’s very hard to administer."
Cuomo on Monday also encouraged professional sports teams to restart their seasons, without fans in stadiums, and pledged the state will provide assistance.
"I'd rather watch current sports on TV, if it works," he said.
"My opinion is they have to do a ramp up anyway."
"... If they can, economically, have games with no fans and the economics work."
"... They have to make their own economic decision whether or not that economic model works."
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article ... con&stn=nf
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
NEWS10 ABC
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update Monday, May 18"
by: Sarah Darmanjian
Posted: May 18, 2020 / 05:30 PM EDT / Updated: May 18, 2020 / 05:30 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin says the county has 27 contact tracers and another 25 in training Monday, which means the county meets the requirements to reopen.
Although it was expected the county would begin phase one Monday, he says he “fully expects” it to begin on Tuesday.
There have been no further deaths in the county.
The number of residents who have died due to COVID-19 stands at 28.
Nineteen of those were at nursing homes.
There have been 473 confirmed cases in Rensselaer County, 309 of which have recovered.
There are currently seven individuals hospitalized but none are in the ICU.
The county has received tests for 5,977 residents and there are 650 in quarantine.
McLaughlin says by Tuesday they expect that number to grow to approximately 6,300.
Rensselaer County held a telephone conference with multiple summer camps that revealed the majority of them have no plans to run this year.
McLaughlin says courts will begin recalling employees over the next couple weeks in preparation to open during phase two.
Motor Vehicles will also be allowed to reopen during phase two.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... ay-may-18/
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update Monday, May 18"
by: Sarah Darmanjian
Posted: May 18, 2020 / 05:30 PM EDT / Updated: May 18, 2020 / 05:30 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin says the county has 27 contact tracers and another 25 in training Monday, which means the county meets the requirements to reopen.
Although it was expected the county would begin phase one Monday, he says he “fully expects” it to begin on Tuesday.
There have been no further deaths in the county.
The number of residents who have died due to COVID-19 stands at 28.
Nineteen of those were at nursing homes.
There have been 473 confirmed cases in Rensselaer County, 309 of which have recovered.
There are currently seven individuals hospitalized but none are in the ICU.
The county has received tests for 5,977 residents and there are 650 in quarantine.
McLaughlin says by Tuesday they expect that number to grow to approximately 6,300.
Rensselaer County held a telephone conference with multiple summer camps that revealed the majority of them have no plans to run this year.
McLaughlin says courts will begin recalling employees over the next couple weeks in preparation to open during phase two.
Motor Vehicles will also be allowed to reopen during phase two.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... ay-may-18/
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
THE NEW YORK POST
"Nursing-home coronavirus horrors: Why NY needs truly independent probe"
By Richard Gottfried
May 18, 2020 | 8:27pm
New York now has 5,574 deaths in nursing homes from the novel coronavirus.
And that doesn’t count nursing-home residents who were moved from a nursing home to a hospital before dying, or nursing home staff who have died.
You most likely know at least one of those who has died or lost a loved one.
Could this radiating tragedy have been mitigated?
The problems in our nursing homes aren’t new; the virus has just made them more visible — and more severe.
We need to find out why so many have become sick and died, what we’ve done right and wrong and what we can do now and for the future.
For decades, most nursing homes have been seriously understaffed.
The state Department of Health, which regulates nursing homes, doesn’t set minimum staffing levels and has fought to stop efforts in the Legislature to require them.
The department’s nursing-home-inspection operation has long been understaffed.
The department has for decades been disturbingly lax in enforcing health and safety rules in nursing homes.
New Yorkers want to believe we do a good job of protecting nursing-home residents.
But year after year, when national organizations publish state-by-state data on nursing-home quality, the Empire State is down toward the bottom.
So no one should be surprised that COVID-19 is ravaging our nursing homes.
Monitoring residents’ symptoms and keeping sick patients cared for and separated all require staff, a culture of diligently maintaining standards and effective Department of Health oversight.
The state’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, part of the state Office for the Aging, is supposed to help nursing-home residents and families deal with problems.
While Gov. Cuomo’s order to ban nursing-home visits made sense, it had no exception for ombudsman staff — cutting them off from the people who now especially need their help.
New York has given nursing homes almost complete legal immunity, unless they are found guilty of intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
An executive order from the governor first enshrined these rules this year, which were then broadened by language the governor inserted in the state budget legislation shortly before it was enacted.
This will make it even harder for health and safety rules to be enforced.
Why does all this happen?
Most nursing-home operators want to do a good job, and many do.
But New York provides inadequate funding through Medicaid.
About 80 percent of nursing-home residents are on Medicaid, because the cost of the care uses up their resources and health insurance rarely covers long-term care.
And too many nursing-home operators have a long history of bad behavior.
The longstanding weakness of the state’s enforcement owe partly to industry lobbying and partly to the fact that nursing homes are usually not on the public’s agenda.
“Out of sight, out of mind” — until the problems break into the headlines.
Cuomo has directed state Attorney General Letitia James and the Department of Health to probe the COVID-19 situation in nursing homes.
When one nursing home reported 13 COVID-19 deaths and actually had 98, an investigation is certainly called for.
But that’s just scratching the surface.
We must have a broader, more intensive professional review of the longstanding problems: bad operators, short staffing, inadequate funding and poorly staffed and lax enforcement of resident-protection rules.
That review must recognize that a lot of the responsibility for these problems — going back decades — lies with the state itself, especially the Department of Health.
The role of the state and the Department of Health can’t and mustn’t be overlooked by investigators.
But there is another looming problem.
Namely, we don’t count on people to investigate themselves, including the Department of Health.
The state attorney general is usually the Department of Health’s lawyer.
James does great work, but it simply isn’t fair to ask her to investigate her own client.
The sensible solution is for the attorney general to appoint an outside counsel to run the review.
There are many lives at stake, now and well after COVID-19 becomes a terrible memory.
The virus has worsened the problems in nursing homes.
At the same time, the problems in our nursing homes make the virus more devastating.
We need to learn and act now.
Richard N. Gottfried is a member of the New York state Assembly and chairs its Health Committee.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/18/nursing-h ... dium=email
"Nursing-home coronavirus horrors: Why NY needs truly independent probe"
By Richard Gottfried
May 18, 2020 | 8:27pm
New York now has 5,574 deaths in nursing homes from the novel coronavirus.
And that doesn’t count nursing-home residents who were moved from a nursing home to a hospital before dying, or nursing home staff who have died.
You most likely know at least one of those who has died or lost a loved one.
Could this radiating tragedy have been mitigated?
The problems in our nursing homes aren’t new; the virus has just made them more visible — and more severe.
We need to find out why so many have become sick and died, what we’ve done right and wrong and what we can do now and for the future.
For decades, most nursing homes have been seriously understaffed.
The state Department of Health, which regulates nursing homes, doesn’t set minimum staffing levels and has fought to stop efforts in the Legislature to require them.
The department’s nursing-home-inspection operation has long been understaffed.
The department has for decades been disturbingly lax in enforcing health and safety rules in nursing homes.
New Yorkers want to believe we do a good job of protecting nursing-home residents.
But year after year, when national organizations publish state-by-state data on nursing-home quality, the Empire State is down toward the bottom.
So no one should be surprised that COVID-19 is ravaging our nursing homes.
Monitoring residents’ symptoms and keeping sick patients cared for and separated all require staff, a culture of diligently maintaining standards and effective Department of Health oversight.
The state’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, part of the state Office for the Aging, is supposed to help nursing-home residents and families deal with problems.
While Gov. Cuomo’s order to ban nursing-home visits made sense, it had no exception for ombudsman staff — cutting them off from the people who now especially need their help.
New York has given nursing homes almost complete legal immunity, unless they are found guilty of intentional misconduct or gross negligence.
An executive order from the governor first enshrined these rules this year, which were then broadened by language the governor inserted in the state budget legislation shortly before it was enacted.
This will make it even harder for health and safety rules to be enforced.
Why does all this happen?
Most nursing-home operators want to do a good job, and many do.
But New York provides inadequate funding through Medicaid.
About 80 percent of nursing-home residents are on Medicaid, because the cost of the care uses up their resources and health insurance rarely covers long-term care.
And too many nursing-home operators have a long history of bad behavior.
The longstanding weakness of the state’s enforcement owe partly to industry lobbying and partly to the fact that nursing homes are usually not on the public’s agenda.
“Out of sight, out of mind” — until the problems break into the headlines.
Cuomo has directed state Attorney General Letitia James and the Department of Health to probe the COVID-19 situation in nursing homes.
When one nursing home reported 13 COVID-19 deaths and actually had 98, an investigation is certainly called for.
But that’s just scratching the surface.
We must have a broader, more intensive professional review of the longstanding problems: bad operators, short staffing, inadequate funding and poorly staffed and lax enforcement of resident-protection rules.
That review must recognize that a lot of the responsibility for these problems — going back decades — lies with the state itself, especially the Department of Health.
The role of the state and the Department of Health can’t and mustn’t be overlooked by investigators.
But there is another looming problem.
Namely, we don’t count on people to investigate themselves, including the Department of Health.
The state attorney general is usually the Department of Health’s lawyer.
James does great work, but it simply isn’t fair to ask her to investigate her own client.
The sensible solution is for the attorney general to appoint an outside counsel to run the review.
There are many lives at stake, now and well after COVID-19 becomes a terrible memory.
The virus has worsened the problems in nursing homes.
At the same time, the problems in our nursing homes make the virus more devastating.
We need to learn and act now.
Richard N. Gottfried is a member of the New York state Assembly and chairs its Health Committee.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/18/nursing-h ... dium=email
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
THE TROY RECORD
"Rensselaer County adds more contact tracers to help reopen this week"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
May 18, 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — County officials said they have hired and are training additional contact tracers so that the Capital Region can open as soon as possible this week.
County officials said they had 27 contact tracers and as of Monday they brought that number up to 52.
The state needed 166 additional contact tracers.
On Monday, the county sent a list of 52 contact tracers to the state.
The number sent by the county, along with Albany County and the city of Albany, far exceeds the 166 needed by the state, county officials noted.
“There’s going to be more than enough contact tracers,” McLaughlin said.
“We fully expect, by tomorrow [Tuesday], to absolutely know that we’re good to go [into phase one of reopening],” McLaughlin said.
In the first phase of reopening, construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, manufacturing and wholesale trade businesses are allowed to reopen and retail stores can provide curbside or in-store pickup or drop-off.
"We believe we have more than met what the state was seeking for contact tracers," McLaughlin said.
"Rensselaer County has been doing an outstanding job handling contact tracing since the outbreak started, thanks to the efforts of the Health Department team.
"With contact tracers chosen and receiving additional required training, we believe we have met all requirements set by the state to qualify for reopening.
“We are looking forward to the state giving us a green light.”
"The county leaders in the region are ready to carefully reopen and work together cooperatively to support economic activity while maintaining health and safety."
"We look forward to cooperating with surrounding counties to make this work as smoothly and safely as possible," McLaughlin added.
Meanwhile, six new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department, it was announced Monday afternoon.
The county now has 473 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 30-year-old Troy woman.
• A new case involving a 32-year-old Troy man.
• A new case involving a 22-year-old Troy male.
• A new case involving a 25-year-old Troy woman.
• A new case involving a 19-year-old Troy male.
• A new case involving a 23-year-old Brunswick woman.
There are now seven residents in the hospital, with none in the ICU.
The hospitalizations include four at Samaritan, two at St. Peter's, and one at Ellis hospitals.
Hospitalizations declined from 10 to seven on Monday.
"We are making progress every day to beat back COVID-19 and a decline in our hospitalizations and regular additions to our cleared cases are definitely good news," McLaughlin said.
There are now 650 in monitor quarantine.
There have been 28 deaths in the county due to COVID-19.
Whitney Young Health Center will also be testing at various locations during the week.
To make an appointment, call 518-465-4771, extension 0.
• Tuesday, May 19, 1:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Front of the Rensselaer County Administration Building, 1600 7th Ave., Troy
• Friday, May 22, 1:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Front of Rensselaer City Hall, 62 Washington St., Rensselaer
The IMA Group with Lab Corp will be testing at Hudson Valley Community College Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
People can make appointments by calling 1-800-245-4245, although appointments are not necessary.
“Testing is very, very important,” Rensselaer County Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas said.
There have been 5,977 residents tested, with 192 tests recorded yesterday.
The county is also able to report nine cases cleared for recovery, bringing the total to 309 cleared cases.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 161
East Greenbush - 50
Nassau - 7
Brunswick - 22
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 32
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 73 *
Pittstown - 9
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 30
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 31
20 to 29 - 91
30 to 39 - 82
40 to 49 - 51
50 to 59 - 69
60 to 69 - 57
70 to 79 - 50
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 19
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 8a755.html
"Rensselaer County adds more contact tracers to help reopen this week"
By Nicholas Buonanno nbuonanno@medianewsgroup.com @NickBuonanno on Twitter
May 18, 2020
RENSSELAER COUNTY, N.Y. — County officials said they have hired and are training additional contact tracers so that the Capital Region can open as soon as possible this week.
County officials said they had 27 contact tracers and as of Monday they brought that number up to 52.
The state needed 166 additional contact tracers.
On Monday, the county sent a list of 52 contact tracers to the state.
The number sent by the county, along with Albany County and the city of Albany, far exceeds the 166 needed by the state, county officials noted.
“There’s going to be more than enough contact tracers,” McLaughlin said.
“We fully expect, by tomorrow [Tuesday], to absolutely know that we’re good to go [into phase one of reopening],” McLaughlin said.
In the first phase of reopening, construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, manufacturing and wholesale trade businesses are allowed to reopen and retail stores can provide curbside or in-store pickup or drop-off.
"We believe we have more than met what the state was seeking for contact tracers," McLaughlin said.
"Rensselaer County has been doing an outstanding job handling contact tracing since the outbreak started, thanks to the efforts of the Health Department team.
"With contact tracers chosen and receiving additional required training, we believe we have met all requirements set by the state to qualify for reopening.
“We are looking forward to the state giving us a green light.”
"The county leaders in the region are ready to carefully reopen and work together cooperatively to support economic activity while maintaining health and safety."
"We look forward to cooperating with surrounding counties to make this work as smoothly and safely as possible," McLaughlin added.
Meanwhile, six new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed to the Rensselaer County Health Department, it was announced Monday afternoon.
The county now has 473 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The new cases include:
• A new case involving a 30-year-old Troy woman.
• A new case involving a 32-year-old Troy man.
• A new case involving a 22-year-old Troy male.
• A new case involving a 25-year-old Troy woman.
• A new case involving a 19-year-old Troy male.
• A new case involving a 23-year-old Brunswick woman.
There are now seven residents in the hospital, with none in the ICU.
The hospitalizations include four at Samaritan, two at St. Peter's, and one at Ellis hospitals.
Hospitalizations declined from 10 to seven on Monday.
"We are making progress every day to beat back COVID-19 and a decline in our hospitalizations and regular additions to our cleared cases are definitely good news," McLaughlin said.
There are now 650 in monitor quarantine.
There have been 28 deaths in the county due to COVID-19.
Whitney Young Health Center will also be testing at various locations during the week.
To make an appointment, call 518-465-4771, extension 0.
• Tuesday, May 19, 1:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Front of the Rensselaer County Administration Building, 1600 7th Ave., Troy
• Friday, May 22, 1:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Front of Rensselaer City Hall, 62 Washington St., Rensselaer
The IMA Group with Lab Corp will be testing at Hudson Valley Community College Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
People can make appointments by calling 1-800-245-4245, although appointments are not necessary.
“Testing is very, very important,” Rensselaer County Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachunas said.
There have been 5,977 residents tested, with 192 tests recorded yesterday.
The county is also able to report nine cases cleared for recovery, bringing the total to 309 cleared cases.
A breakdown of cases by municipality:
Troy - 161
East Greenbush - 50
Nassau - 7
Brunswick - 22
Hoosick - 7
Sand Lake - 13
Schodack - 32
Stephentown - 8
North Greenbush - 47
Schaghticoke - 73 *
Pittstown - 9
Petersburgh - 3
Grafton - 5
Poestenkill - 3
Rensselaer - 30
Berlin - 3
(* includes 58 confirmed cases at the Diamond Hill adult care facility)
A breakdown of cases by age:
0 to 19 - 31
20 to 29 - 91
30 to 39 - 82
40 to 49 - 51
50 to 59 - 69
60 to 69 - 57
70 to 79 - 50
80 to 89 - 23
90 to 99 - 19
100 - 1
https://www.troyrecord.com/news/local-n ... 8a755.html
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
THE NEW YORK POST
"Health Commissioner Zucker’s nursing-home failures were worse than thought"
By Post Editorial Board
May 19, 2020 | 7:30pm
Health Commissioner Howard Zucker’s approach to the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes is even worse than we’d thought: It turns out his Department of Health didn’t even try to track deaths in homes for a full month after the state reported its first fatalities.
New York’s first confirmed COVID-19 deaths came March 14, but it wasn’t until April 17 that DOH began comprehensively asking nursing-home administrators how many residents had died of the disease, the Syracuse Post-Standard has revealed.
The department was in contact — sending daily questionnaires asking how many masks and how much hand sanitizer homes had on hand, among other data.
But it wasn’t until news broke of growing outrage among residents’ families that the state thought to systematically ask the most crucial question.
And then DOH just flailed: It e-mailed homes on April 17 at 7:03 a.m. to ask, “What is the total number of residents who have died in your nursing home of COVID-19?”
It set an 8:45 a.m. deadline for replies.
The next day, it ordered administrators to document every coronavirus death over the prior six weeks — in a noon e-mail with a 2:30 p.m. deadline.
All this, as Zucker mandated on March 25 that homes take in COVID-positive patients.
That’s right: He gave that order without having even tried to learn how many residents were dying from the bug.
(Then again, this is the guy who ordered EMTs to not bother trying to resuscitate heart-attack victims until The Post exposed that madness.)
Zucker seems to have focused purely on keeping hospitals from becoming overwhelmed, to the point of sending infected patients into the facilities housing those most vulnerable to the bug.
Now the virus has taken some 5,600 nursing-home lives, and experts believe the true toll is far higher.
Gov. Cuomo has repeatedly insisted his team is basing all its moves on the data, yet Zucker wasn’t even collecting key info on the most at-risk population.
Surely the Empire State deserves a better health commissioner than this.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/19/health-co ... n-thought/
"Health Commissioner Zucker’s nursing-home failures were worse than thought"
By Post Editorial Board
May 19, 2020 | 7:30pm
Health Commissioner Howard Zucker’s approach to the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes is even worse than we’d thought: It turns out his Department of Health didn’t even try to track deaths in homes for a full month after the state reported its first fatalities.
New York’s first confirmed COVID-19 deaths came March 14, but it wasn’t until April 17 that DOH began comprehensively asking nursing-home administrators how many residents had died of the disease, the Syracuse Post-Standard has revealed.
The department was in contact — sending daily questionnaires asking how many masks and how much hand sanitizer homes had on hand, among other data.
But it wasn’t until news broke of growing outrage among residents’ families that the state thought to systematically ask the most crucial question.
And then DOH just flailed: It e-mailed homes on April 17 at 7:03 a.m. to ask, “What is the total number of residents who have died in your nursing home of COVID-19?”
It set an 8:45 a.m. deadline for replies.
The next day, it ordered administrators to document every coronavirus death over the prior six weeks — in a noon e-mail with a 2:30 p.m. deadline.
All this, as Zucker mandated on March 25 that homes take in COVID-positive patients.
That’s right: He gave that order without having even tried to learn how many residents were dying from the bug.
(Then again, this is the guy who ordered EMTs to not bother trying to resuscitate heart-attack victims until The Post exposed that madness.)
Zucker seems to have focused purely on keeping hospitals from becoming overwhelmed, to the point of sending infected patients into the facilities housing those most vulnerable to the bug.
Now the virus has taken some 5,600 nursing-home lives, and experts believe the true toll is far higher.
Gov. Cuomo has repeatedly insisted his team is basing all its moves on the data, yet Zucker wasn’t even collecting key info on the most at-risk population.
Surely the Empire State deserves a better health commissioner than this.
https://nypost.com/2020/05/19/health-co ... n-thought/
Re: COVID IN RENSSELAER COUNTY, NY - A CASE STUDY
NEWS10 ABC
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update Tuesday, May 19"
by: Sarah Darmanjian
Posted: May 19, 2020 / 05:40 PM EDT / Updated: May 19, 2020 / 05:40 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Rensselaer County is urging residents to continue using a mask in public and continue social distancing as the county begins reopening.
The county says these are important in further management of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
Rensselaer County will officially begin phase one of reopening Wednesday along with other counties in the Capital District.
The county only saw three additional cases from Monday bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 476.
One of those three cases is a resident at Rosewood Gardens.
Six residents are hospitalized with COVID-19 and there have been no new deaths reported.
To date, 28 county residents have died from the coronavirus.
There still remain 240 residents in quarantine.
Those who have recovered from the virus stands at 317.
Rensselaer County has administered 6,106 coronavirus tests, 129 of which were done yesterday.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... ay-may-19/
"Rensselaer County coronavirus update Tuesday, May 19"
by: Sarah Darmanjian
Posted: May 19, 2020 / 05:40 PM EDT / Updated: May 19, 2020 / 05:40 PM EDT
TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- Rensselaer County is urging residents to continue using a mask in public and continue social distancing as the county begins reopening.
The county says these are important in further management of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
Rensselaer County will officially begin phase one of reopening Wednesday along with other counties in the Capital District.
The county only saw three additional cases from Monday bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 476.
One of those three cases is a resident at Rosewood Gardens.
Six residents are hospitalized with COVID-19 and there have been no new deaths reported.
To date, 28 county residents have died from the coronavirus.
There still remain 240 residents in quarantine.
Those who have recovered from the virus stands at 317.
Rensselaer County has administered 6,106 coronavirus tests, 129 of which were done yesterday.
https://www.news10.com/news/rensselaer- ... ay-may-19/