NY Covid News Superthread

[Chris 2,162]

Here ya go:

[Adam 373]

IMHO i think mandate for masks was a good thing because obviously there is a large segment of populace out there that cannot/will not see that masks do work, there are plenty of studies ive cited ad-nauseum, they are safe and really are not an inconvenience. they further seem to be of the mind " I aint gonna do it unless im forced" then complain when they ARE forced, or because businesses shut down due to lack of employees

ive smartened up a bit by answering he question "why do we need to wear masks?" with " You cover your nose/mouth when you sneeze or cough right?"

at some point ill really be wise and just ignore the stupidity but for now im more content to swim against stupidity rather than go with the flow and be carried off by it

[Chris 2,162]

3 minutes ago, Adam said:

at some point ill really be wise and just ignore the stupidity

[TTL News 308]

Quote

 

Gov. Kathy Hochul has extended the COVID-related state of emergency in New York, which was set to expire Tuesday, through March 16, despite declining coronavirus cases.

Hochul signed an executive order Monday to sustain the state government's disaster emergency powers, which allow state officials to continue various efforts to support COVID-19 vaccine distributions and enforce other regulations intended to limit the virus’ spread.

The move came after Hochul last week lifted New York's indoor mask mandate for businesses, citing rapidly declining COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations since the winter surge peak in early January.

Hochul kept New York's mask mandate for schools in place, however, noting the measure would be re-evaluated in early March. She asserted the highly contagious omicron variant remained a threat to schools in part due to low vaccination rates among the youngest children.

 

See the rest here.

[Hal 341]

8 minutes ago, TwinTiersLiving said:

Hochul signed an executive order Monday to sustain the state government's disaster emergency powers, which allow state officials to continue various efforts to support COVID-19 vaccine distributions and enforce other regulations intended to limit the virus’ spread.

🤔… who woulda thunk it ?! 
That was Sarcasm Sheldon ! 

[KarenK 383]

Maybe it's just me but this woman seems to be on a power trip to the point you can almost see the "high" when she is issuing orders or mandates.  

I was truly concerned when Cuomo went down (and I literally could not stand him) that we might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire and I see more and more of this with her every day.

I don't think she ever thought she would be in this political position she is in and she seems to be going a little crazy with it.  Not just covid either.

[Ann 263]

3 hours ago, TwinTiersLiving said:

 

I would want to see the statistics  that shows exactly how the omicron variant remains a threat  among unvaccinated school age children especially if infection rates are declining.

[TTL News 308]

New York will no longer require students and educators to wear masks in schools starting Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Sunday, a milestone in the state’s two-year struggle against the coronavirus pandemic and a mostly welcome sign of the virus’s retreat. 

“My friends, the day has come,” Ms. Hochul said, reiterating that the decision came in consultation with public health and education officials. The state’s decision does not supersede those of individual districts and counties, which can still impose mask mandates and other more restrictive measures.
 

Read the rest here

[Ann 263]

58 minutes ago, TwinTiersLiving said:

New York will no longer require students and educators to wear masks in schools starting Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Sunday, a milestone in the state’s two-year struggle against the coronavirus pandemic and a mostly welcome sign of the virus’s retreat. 

“My friends, the day has come,” Ms. Hochul said, reiterating that the decision came in consultation with public health and education officials. The state’s decision does not supersede those of individual districts and counties, which can still impose mask mandates and other more restrictive measures.
 

Read the rest here

Why Wednesday?   If masks will no longer be required what difference does 2 days make?  

[Chris 2,162]

I may still wear when in the presence of students, I don’t know. Still giving it some thought. I’ve remained pretty damned healthy the past couple years ( minus having Covid ) and this is a REALLY bad time of year for me to get sick.

[Andy 70]

Wonder when SUNY will do this, although with these freezing winds in Oneonta I'll still wear the mask outdoors happily!

[KarenK 383]

38 minutes ago, Chris said:

I may still wear when in the presence of students, I don’t know. Still giving it some thought. I’ve remained pretty damned healthy the past couple years ( minus having Covid ) and this is a REALLY bad time of year for me to get sick.

It's my understanding that they are still mandatory on the busses because that is a federal mandate.

[Chris 2,162]

33 minutes ago, KarenK said:

It's my understanding that they are still mandatory on the busses because that is a federal mandate.

[KarenK 383]

Where is that from?  I'm getting my info from horseheads parents who got a call

[MsKreed 1,179]

Yep....Horseheads is citing a federal mandate for buses. 

Seems like CDC disagrees: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

Quote

Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level.

I hope they all get that figured out quick and clearly communicate to parents and staff.  I can see heated arguments if there's any question and contradiction between different districts. 

Edited February 28, 2022 by MsKreed

[MsKreed 1,179]

My guess is someone in HHDS is referencing THIS and is interpreting school buses as "transportation networks" under federal DOT definitions?

Quote

TSA has extended the face mask requirement for all transportation networks, including public transportation, through March 18, 2022. TSA’s initial face mask requirement went into effect on February 1, 2021, with an initial expiration date of May 11, 2021. It was first extended through September 13, 2021, and then to January 18, 2022.

 

[Chris 2,162]

10 hours ago, KarenK said:

Where is that from?  I'm getting my info from horseheads parents who got a call

Email from ECSD Superintendent.

[Kevin 334]

Not throwing shade (well maybe a little) sounds like another example of HHSD doing what they want. 

[Diane 23]

1 hour ago, Kevin said:

Not throwing shade (well maybe a little) sounds like another example of HHSD doing what they want. 

I think the governor said the decision is now left to the districts didn't she?

[MsKreed 1,179]

36 minutes ago, Diane said:

I think the governor said the decision is now left to the districts didn't she?

Yes, she did. If a school district decides to put a mask policy into effect, they can. 

No need to inaccurately cite 'federal requirement' though. 

[KarenK 383]

1 hour ago, Diane said:

I think the governor said the decision is now left to the districts didn't she?

She did but she also indicated there should be no inconsistencies with policy between districts in the same county.  I just think ESD and HHSD are interpreting transportation incorrectly.  I personally don't believe that if the districts own the busses and merely transport students that they are "public" transportation.

[Chris 2,162]

A majority of my kids wore one today, although that could be because putting one on is so a part of their routine. 

I was on the fence about wearing one or not. Then I remembered that one, I don't know where the kids have been the past week while they were off. And two, I cannot be sick for the next couple weeks. So I put it on. Not out of "fear" or whatever of Covid, been there done that. But there's a nasty GI bug going around from what I've heard, and even a simple cold would be a thorn in my side. 

[KarenK 383]

2 hours ago, Chris said:

A majority of my kids wore one today, although that could be because putting one on is so a part of their routine. 

I was on the fence about wearing one or not. Then I remembered that one, I don't know where the kids have been the past week while they were off. And two, I cannot be sick for the next couple weeks. So I put it on. Not out of "fear" or whatever of Covid, been there done that. But there's a nasty GI bug going around from what I've heard, and even a simple cold would be a thorn in my side. 

I can vouch for the nasty GI bug however I wasn't anywhere.  lol.  This was seriously one of those weekends where I pretty much hung home. Those are usually picked up and you are sick within 24hrs but although I did grab a quesadilla Sunday night, I wasn't really that close to anyone at all.  Place wasn't even busy.

[Chris 2,162]

I reached for my mask today and then I paused. 

You know, I've been packed in with a thousand or more people over the past couple weeks. My odds of catching a cold, the flu, etc., are way higher there than with nine kids on a bus. 

I left the mask behind. And it was kinda nice. 

[TTL News 308]

State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats), Ranking Member of the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee, today renewed his call for the committee to launch a full-fledged investigation of New York’s COVID-19 response in nursing homes. 

In a letter today (see attached copy) to the chair of the Investigations Committee, Senator James Skoufis (D-HudsonValley), O’Mara wrote, “It is long past time for you and for this Senate Majority to stop turning your backs on your responsibilities to New Yorkers…Over the past two years, and as recently as last November, I have repeatedly called on you to authorize the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee to undertake a top-to-bottom investigation of the state’s pandemic response in nursing homes.  I have called for the issuance of subpoenas to take the testimony of the many upper-level DOH officials who abruptly retired in 2020 during and following the former Cuomo administration’s nursing homes cover-up.  You have repeatedly failed to act.”   

O’Mara noted that today marks two years since the state Department of Health (DOH) under former Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a fateful directive on March 25, 2020 requiring New York State nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients from hospitals into the homes and, additionally, prevented nursing homes from testing incoming residents for COVID-19. 

The day after that March 25 directive to nursing homes, on March 26, 2020, the prominent, national medical professionals group American Medical Directors Association (AMDA)-The Society for Post-Acute Care and Long-Term Care (PALTC) Medicine warned against it. The group stated the order was “over-reaching, not consistent with science…and beyond all, not in the least consistent with patient safety principles.”  

Three days later, on March 29, 2020, AMDA-PALTC was joined by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) in another statement that read, in part, “As organizations dedicated to preserving the safety of patients and residents in post-acute and long-term care settings including assisted living, we strongly object to this policy directive and approach…This is a short-term and short-sighted solution that will only add to the surge in COVID-19 patients…We understand the need for public health and elected officials to weigh the risks and benefits of their decisions…However, a blanket order for every nursing home in the state to accept all admissions from hospitals is not sound policy.” 

According to numerous investigative reports over the past two years, the March 25, 2020 mandate issued by then-Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, which the Cuomo administration, despite the dire warnings from the medical community, left in place for more than 30 days before rescinding it on May 10, 2020, resulted in more than 9,000 COVID-positive patients being sent into nursing homes from hospitals.  Over 6,000 of those were new admissions to nursing homes, not readmissions as the Cuomo administration had tried to lead the public to believe. The overall number was more than 40% higher than what the Cuomo administration had been reporting and contributed significantly to the death toll. 

O’Mara said that New Yorkers, particularly those whose loved ones died of COVID in a nursing home, deserve answers to many questions including:  

1.) Why were COVID-positive patients ordered into the residences of those most at-risk?; and  

2.) Why weren’t these COVID-positive hospital patients transferred to the federal field hospitals set up at the Javits Center in New York City and on the Navy hospital ship U.S.N.S Comfort? 

Last Tuesday, March 15, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released an audit reiterating that the DOH under Cuomo underreported COVID-19-related deaths by at least 4,100 and by more than 50% at times during the pandemic. 

O’Mara said, “If former Governor Cuomo and Health Commissioner Zucker had heeded the warnings from the experts on the front lines of nursing home care in America, thousands of nursing home residents would have at least been better protected and many lives could have been saved.  The question remains unanswered about why Cuomo and his inner circle ignored the warnings from public health experts that their March 25th mandate to nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients was overreaching, and not consistent with science or patient safety principles.  It is just one of many unanswered questions that still demand to be pursued in order to get to the bottom of the Cuomo administration’s nursing homes cover-up.” 

O’Mara has also raised questions over why the Hochul administration and current Health Commissioner Mary Bassett have shown no interest in reexamining the state’s pandemic response.  At her confirmation hearing in January, Bassett, when asked, stated that she had never read the March 25, 2020 DOH order and “wasn’t going to try and unravel what happened in nursing homes under the previous commissioner.” That response, in part, led Senate Republicans to oppose Bassett’s confirmation. 

Over the past two years, O’Mara has repeatedly called on Skoufis to authorize the Investigations Committee to launch an investigation to examine and determine the full extent of the nursing homes cover-up, including issuing subpoenas to Cuomo’s inner circle, including Zucker and other top state health officials, in order to obtain documents, emails, phone records, and all other information that could shed additional light on the state’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities where more than 15,000 seniors died. 

Despite a mountain of evidence that Cuomo and his staff engaged in a year-long disinformation campaign to bolster the disgraced governor’s image and profit off the pandemic, all of O’Mara’s motions have been rejected by Skoufis and the Democrat Majority, who even went as far as muting O’Mara’s microphone to cut off further debate during a February 1, 2021 virtual committee meeting. 

In his letter today to Skoufis, O’Mara wrote, “In light of the comptroller’s latest audit – and  given that today marks the two-year anniversary of the fateful March 25, 2020 DOH order to nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients -- I once again call on you to fully utilize your authority to immediately commence a full investigation.  This investigation must include the issuance of subpoenas to all appropriate former and current employees of the DOH and the Executive Chamber involved in the March 25th order, the decisions to not utilize the Javits Center or the U.S.N.S. Comfort for COVID-positive hospital patients discharged from hospitals, and the underreporting of COVID nursing home deaths to testify before the Investigations Committee under oath.  Additionally, subpoenas must be issued for the production of documents and other records, including but not limited to all correspondence, memos, emails, text messages and phone records, and any information that would provide transparent data on the number of COVID-19 fatalities of nursing home residents, within or outside of all long-term care facilities in New York, regarding the drafting and implementation of the March 25th Order, and why the U.S.N.S. Comfort or Javits Center were not utilized for COVID-positive hospital patients ultimately discharged to nursing homes.  New Yorkers deserve accountability and the families who lost loved ones in nursing homes deserve justice.  News reports have shown that more than 9,000 COVID-positive hospital patients were discharged from New York hospitals directly into nursing homes, more than 6,000 of whom were new nursing home admissions as opposed to readmissions. Furthermore, we must fully understand how this tragedy unfolded among our most vulnerable population so that we can have the insight and knowledge to try to ensure that it never happens again.”   

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, O’Mara joined Senate and Assembly colleagues at the Capitol, along with family members who lost loved ones to COVID-19 in nursing homes, for a “We Care Remembrance Day” ceremony honoring the lives of the more than 15,000 seniors who died.