Edited by: JV Staff
New York state is expanding the criteria for who gets tested for the coronavirus as well as increasing antibody testing to determine how much of the state’s population has been infected, according to an NPR report.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said that those who would be eligible to receive coronavirus tests would be medical personnel including physicians, nurses, technicians and first responders. They all comprise essential employees to in the battle against the deadly virus. Other essential employees include bus drivers, grocery store clerks and laundromat workers, who are “carrying the load” of the crisis, the governor said at his daily press briefing in Albany, as was reported by the NY Post.
In addition, the governor said that he would be authorizing some 5,000 independent pharmacies to serve as sites where the tests could be collected, according to the NPR report.
“These people have been carrying the load and they have been subjected to the public all during these crisis and they’re public-facing,” Cuomo said while announcing the expanded criteria., as was reported by NPR. “These are the people you interact with.”
“If your local drugstore can now become a collection site, people can go to their local drugstore,” Cuomo said, according to an ABC news report, sketching a far more simplified and accessible way to administer testing for the virus that has killed over 16,000 New Yorkers and crippled the regional economy.
This represents a critical element in the move toward eventually reopening the state.
The NY Post reported that pharmacy employees will administer the test swabs, and then send the samples out to any of the 300 state-approved labs for processing. The tests — which will determine if someone is actively infected and typically take up to three days to yield results — will eventually be offered to the public at large.
“Hopefully, one day we get to the point where anybody who wants a test can walk in and get a test,” the governor said.
NPR reported that in addition, the state would continue its antibody testing efforts to include transit workers and law enforcement. Workers at four New York City hospitals — some of the hardest hit by the pandemic — would also be tested for antibodies beginning Saturday.
The number of people entering hospitals for COVID-19 dropped to roughly 1,100 Friday, the lowest it has been in 21 days, the governor announced.
“It’s down to about 1,100 new cases. Only in this crazy reality would 1,100 new cases be relatively good news, right?” Cuomo said.
NPR reported that seaths from the disease, however, ticked up slightly to 437 on Friday, up from 422 a day prior.
Drawing comparisons to the flu pandemic of 1918 and World War II, Cuomo urged New Yorkers to continue abiding by social distancing restrictions, noting its hardships.
“One hundred thousand fewer serious infections, that’s what 56 days of our relative living through hell has accomplished. And that is a heck of an accomplishment,” Cuomo said.
The Post reported that four NYC hospitals – Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, and the city-run Bellevue and Elmhurst hospitals in Manhattan and Queens — began offering antibody testing for front line healthcare workers. Elmhurst Hospital made national news when its emergency rooms became jammed with COVID-19 patients.
And SUNY Downstate is now dedicated solely to COVID-19 patients, Cuomo noted, according to the Post report. “You want to talk about God’s work, that’s where it’s happening,” he said.
Across the city,150,576 people have tested positive for the virus as of Saturday afternoon. There have been a total of 16,270 deaths of patients who either tested positive for the virus or who died from COVID-19 symptoms.
