Port Authority chief tests positive for coronavirus

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Quick Fix

— Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has tested positive for the coronavirus and is being quarantined at home.


— HHS Secretary Alex Azar said he was “disturbed” by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s claim that coronavirus testing is limited in the state.

— The Medicaid Redesign Team II is holding its second public meeting in New York City today despite concerns over the state's coronavirus outbreak.

Policy and Politics

AP Photo

PORT AUTHORITY CHIEF TESTS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS — POLITICO’s Shannon Young: Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has tested positive for the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced [Monday] while noting his unlikely exposure to the disease through Cotton. “I have not been [tested]. At one point it might be a good idea," the governor told reporters in Albany. "I have not personally really been in contact with people in Westchester [County]. I may have been in contact with Rick Cotton … I am not a probable positive. We’re looking for probable positives.”

— POLITICO’s Dana Rubenstein: Over salmon and eggs at the swank, Michelin-stared restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art last Thursday, transportation leaders from across New York City gazed at MoMA's renowned sculpture garden, listened to the wisdom of presidential historian Timothy Naftali and mingled with the likes of MTA Chairman Pat Foye, New York City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. They may also have been mingling with coronavirus. … Cotton didn’t respond to requests for comment. Nor did his wife Betsy Smith, the president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy.

CUOMO IMPOSES 24-HR SHUTDOWN RULE AMID OUTBREAK — POLITICO’s Nick Niedzwiadek: Any school in the state where a student tests positive for the coronavirus will shut down for a minimum of 24 hours, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said [Monday]. “For all schools, we’re going to set a policy that if a student tests positive in a school that school is closed for an initial 24 hour period, so that we can do an assessment of the situation and the facts and then make the determination going forward given the facts in that particular school district,” Cuomo said at a morning press conference.

AZAR: ‘GOOD PARTNER’ CUOMO JABS ON CORONAVIRUS TESTING BLINDSIDED HIM — POLITICO’s Myah Ward: HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Monday said he was “disturbed” by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s claim that coronavirus testing is limited in the state, condemning the governor’s comments as having “no factual basis.” Cuomo on Sunday blasted the CDC for failing to properly prepare ahead of the virus' spread across the U.S. “When you wonder why people are so anxious, and the fear, it’s because the information they are getting tends to change and they’re getting mixed messages,” Cuomo said Sunday on Fox, when asked if he has a limited number of tests. “And probably the single most important thing we can do substantively now is testing. It hasn’t been done well. I believe the CDC was caught flat-footed. We knew this was coming. We were watching China. You would have to be in denial if you didn’t think what was happening in China was going to wind up here.”

Odds and Ends

CORONAVIRUS COUNT — There are 142 confirmed cases in New York.

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NOW WE KNOW — More than 70 percent of people sickened by coronavirus in China have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, according to World Health Organization officials.

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TODAY’S TIP — You can use disinfectant wipes on your iPhone and other Apple gadgets, company officials have confirmed.

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STUDY THIS — New research suggests that low-income children whose families receive federal housing assistance are less likely to visit emergency rooms for asthma attacks than those whose households remain on subsidy waiting lists.

Around New York

MRT II MEETS — Shannon reports: The Medicaid Redesign Team II holds its second public meeting today in New York City as planned. The panel, which pushed back the event in favor of an extended public comment period, is expected to discuss recommendations offered from health care providers, consumers and advocates, as well as the work of its long-term care advisory group.

LOBBY DAY — Hundreds of New York families and advocates with Families Together of New York State will be at the Albany Capital Center today to urge lawmakers to support children’s mental health services in the state.

LOCKDOWN PLAN — The City reports: “Inmates sleeping head-to-toe, three feet apart. Detainees paid as little as $1 an hour to disinfect toilets and sinks. And video conferences for all court appearances. Those are some of the key health safety measures on tap if the coronavirus outbreak spreads to Rikers Island and other city Department of Correction jails, according to an internal document obtained by THE CITY. The 22-page plan addresses everything from making sure there’s enough food to feed some 5,400 inmates to readying a portable morgue for the worst-case scenario.”

NYS CLEAN — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that the state is using prison labor to manufacture "New York State Clean" hand sanitizer, which will be provided to state and local agencies amid the product’s shortage due to the coronavirus outbreak, The Buffalo News reports.

NATIONAL LEADER — New York now leads the nation in confirmed cases of coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Monday. “As of Monday morning, the number of positive cases jumped from 105 on Sunday to 142 — largely in Westchester. That is at least one more than in Washington state, Cuomo said,” Gannett reports.

TESTING — The Buffalo News reports: “It will take a couple weeks before testing for the new coronavirus will begin at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, but when ready, the center would each day be able to test as many as 100 potential cases with the hope of getting results that same day, the head of Roswell Park said Sunday.”

Pharma Report

FALLING SHORT — Reuters reports: “Bristol Myers Squibb Co said Monday its combination therapy for multiple myeloma failed the main goal of improving progression-free survival in newly diagnosed patients during a late-stage study.”

VACCINATION RACE — “Even as companies rush to develop and test vaccines against the new coronavirus, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health are betting that scientists can do even better than what’s now in the pipeline,” STAT News reports.

What We're Reading

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES — A coronavirus outbreak among the porn industry could “be catastrophic,” adult actors told Rolling Stone.

LONDON PATIENT — A British man has been cured of HIV after receiving a bone marrow transplant for lymphoma. “The donor carried a mutation that impeded the ability of H.I.V. to enter cells, so the transplant essentially replaced Mr. Castillejo’s immune system with one resistant to the virus. The approach, though effective in his case, was intended to cure his cancer and is not a practical option for the widespread curing of H.I.V. because of the risks involved,” The New York Times reports.

UNDER QUARANTINE — CNN reports: “Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that anyone entering the country from abroad — Israeli citizens and foreign nationals alike — must self-quarantine for 14 days. Those foreign nationals who are unable to demonstrate to Israeli border authorities that they will be able to self-quarantine for two weeks will not be allowed to enter the country.”

I DON’T — Middle-class Americans are opting out of marriage due to financial concerns, The Wall Street Journal reports. A single person with children is more likely to receive safety net services and state health insurance subsidies than a couple with two incomes.

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