De Blasio stops short of imposing restrictions

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Quick Fix

— Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order requiring that all “non-essential” New York workers to remain home is now in effect.


— New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking New Yorkers to make the right decisions about social distancing after Cuomo ordered the city to come up with a plan to reduce density in public gathering spaces, including parks and other outdoor areas.

— Safety-net hospitals in central Brooklyn say they are seeing several coronavirus patients even as the outbreak has yet to hit its expected peak.

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Policy and Politics

DE BLASIO STOPS SHORT OF IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS — POLITICO’s Amanda Eisenberg: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has lagged other state and local leaders in imposing restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, is calling on New Yorkers to make the right decisions about social distancing. De Blasio, in a virtual press conference Sunday, said he's trying to avoid more draconian measures aimed at curbing the virus’ spread. … “We need to ensure that people [who] want a little exercise in their day can do that in the right way,” de Blasio said. “It is absolutely normal and human to want to get outside, get a little bit of exercise. But I remind you — the pause is all about social distancing.”

— POLITICO’s Anna Gronewold and Danielle Muoio: Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered New York City to come up with a plan to reduce the number of people gathering in public spaces within 24 hours as he reemphasized the importance of social distancing to limit the spread of coronavirus.

A PRETTY SHOCKING THING — Amanda reports: Safety-net hospitals in central Brooklyn — hospitals of last resort that on their best days struggle for resources and staff — are getting clobbered with coronavirus patients days ahead of the expected surge. “It’s a disaster,” said Dr. Conrad Fischer, residency program director in internal medicine at Brookdale University Medical Center. “We just had a half dozen staff just test positive. We have 17 ventilators left in the institution. Some staff can't come because they’re getting wiped out.”

… The hospital has a dozen cases of Covid-19 and about 20 people under investigation, he said. Soon, Brookdale will be at capacity and doctors will need to open and expand floors, and convert office spaces into places for patients to get treatment. The hospital is down to one or two days left of personal protective equipment, Fischer said.

— Merck delivered 500,000 surgical masks to New York City Emergency Management on Sunday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio with Dr. Oxiris Barbot, commissioner of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, reports on the city's preparedness | AP Photo

LEADERSHIP CHANGES — POLITICO’s Janaki Chadha: Mayor Bill de Blasio is restructuring his senior leadership team to further focus his administration on the city’s mounting coronavirus outbreak. De Blasio announced five new senior appointments to address new needs resulting from the crisis, such as ensuring food access and coordinating with the private sector to boost the city’s relief efforts.

— New York City is also shifting its remote testing away from “worried well” residents and New Yorkers experiencing mild Covid-19 symptoms to prioritize the sick.

Odds and Ends

CORONAVIRUS COUNT — There were 15,168 confirmed cases in New York as of Sunday afternoon.

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NOW WE KNOW — Men appear to be more likely to die from Covid-19, according to data from around the world.

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TODAY’S TIP — Comes from NYC Seniors: “A 10 minute call could help an older adult in your life avoid social isolation.”

MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW Amanda @aeis17, Shannon @ShannonYoung413 and Dan @DanCGoldberg on Twitter. And for all New Jersey health news, check out @samjsutton.

STUDY THIS — A study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, its Perlmutter Cancer Center and Harvard University showed that death rates among white Americans increased by 7.5 percent between 1986 and 2013, but then dropped by nearly 18 percent over the next three years.





Around New York

SLOW MOVING — The New York Post reports: “Mayor Bill de Blasio has blamed President Trump for the city’s severe shortage of COVID-19 supplies even though City Hall didn’t put in its first order for emergency protective gear until March 6, The Post has learned.”

BASIC INCOME — Andrew Yang will give New York City’s working class $1 million worth of microgrants between $250 to $500, he announced Friday.

HEADING TO THE HAMPTONS — New York City residents are fleeing to the Hamptons to wait out the coronavirus pandemic, New York Magazine reports.

— Affluent city dwellers are also heading to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, as well as other coastal towns often frequented in the summer months, according to Boston.com.

GETTING RESULTS — Reuters reports: “As U.S. authorities scrambled to ramp up the nation’s capacity to test for coronavirus last week, at least 100 executives and other New Yorkers of means had easy access to testing, according to two sources familiar with the activities of a little-known medical service catering to the affluent.”

BEGGING FOR TESTS — Albany County Executive Dan McCoy says he’s "begging" the federal government to provide more testing kits for the Capital Region, which has scaled back testing to just health care workers and those who are deemed the sickest, The Times Union reports.

BACK ON — “The coronavirus pandemic jolted life into the Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital. The hospital’s fifth-floor ICU and sixth floor with 40 hospital beds will come back online, Mayor Shawyn-Patterson said on Saturday,” LoHud.com reports.

MRT RECOMMENDATIONS — Advocates with the Campaign for Healthy Minds, Health Kids are asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers to support Medicaid Redesign Team II proposals that “protect children’s health homes from across the board Medicaid cuts, reinstate reimbursement rates for Children and Family Treatment and Support Services, and make meaningful progress toward fulfilling the promise of the MRT I plan to increase access to children’s behavioral health care.”

Pharma Report

VAX — The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick has started producing strains of coronavirus to aid in the search for a vaccine, according to The Wall Street Journal.

What We're Reading

POSITIVE — POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris and John Bresnahan: “Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday announced he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming the first senator and third member of Congress known to have contracted the virus. And Senate GOP leaders will now be short five Republicans during a key procedural vote on a massive economic rescue package to deal with the coronavirus crisis, in part due to Paul's infection.”

— The Niagara Gazette reports: “Oscar-winning movie producer Harvey Weinstein, now one of New York's most notorious prison inmates after being sentenced for sexual assault, has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to officials connected to the state prison system.”

WHY WE’RE HERE — The New York Times reports: “Across the United States, from Florida beaches to California mountains, casinos to national parks, legions dismissed the growing demands this past week to isolate themselves and stop congregating as the coronavirus spread through the country and shut down nearly all facets of American life.”

WHY WE’RE HERE, PT. II — Reuters reports: “Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China, Reuters has learned.”

WHY WE’RE HERE, PT. III — “The number of 'silent carriers' — people who are infected by the new coronavirus but show delayed or no symptoms — could be as high as one-third of those who test positive, according to classified Chinese government data seen by the South China Morning Post.”

YIKES — A Boston-area woman without health insurance was billed just under $35,000 for testing and treatment related to her case of coronavirus, TIME reports.

COUNTING CALORIES — People with eating disorders are struggling under quarantine, BuzzFeed News reports.

CANCELING ORDERS — Peloton is still delivering its bikes, but not treadmills, to people’s homes to protect against Covid-19 transmission, AdAge reports.

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