Mayor de Blasio along with Dr. Oxiris Barbot (Commissioner of Health of City of New York), Raul Perea-Henze (Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services) and Marco Carrion (Commissioner of the Community Affairs Unit) held a press conference and Q&A on March 11 for community media on the emerging coronavirus.
They emphasized that anyone who asks for health care and medical help will not be asked for documentation. They will take anybody with symptoms of the coronavirus and have them tested.
De Blasio said he has been impressed by New Yorkers’ resilience and stressed the need to watch out for people with preexisting conditions and the elderly. They also said that any mass gatherings are risky with the spread of the coronavirus.
It has now been announced that mass gatherings of 500 people or more are not allowed.
De Blasio noted that Dr. Barbot has informed him that the city could be working to subdue the coronavirus until September. “It could be six months that we are trying to get this under control,” he said.
Physical separation is the best way to avoid contracting the virus.
“If you are sick, do not go to work or school,” Dr. Barbot instructed. Dr. Barbot underlined the importance of washing your hands frequently and coughing into your arm to avoid spreading the virus.
“I emphasize that this is not a process that the government takes care of it and will call you when it is over,” de Blasio added. “Everyone has to be part of solving this.”
March 1 was the first case of COVID-19 in New York City, and as of March 11 there were 53 known cases.
De Blasio spoke about some benefits that New Yorkers have at this time.
“We are blessed to have some key and distinct factors in our favor,” de Blasio said. “We have unquestionably the best healthcare system in the USA. That is both our private voluntary hospitals and nonprofit organizations and our public hospitals and clinics.”
He talked about the desire to give everyone the help they need. “We have more and better healthcare available and a history of making healthcare available to people in a very universal fashion,” he stated. “They will not deny on it on the basis of not being able to pay. If they have insurance they will draw on that and if they do not they will get them on insurance. They will not deny anyone who can’t afford it.”
De Blasio brought up the crisis in Italy. “The speed which it happened was in such an unexpected manner,” he said. “It’s very different than what we have experienced so far.”
De Blasio got together with Dr. Barbot on January 24, after the situation in Italy, and had a press conference telling New Yorkers that the disease would eventually reach New York. They outlined the preparations, and the city did not have its first case until March 1.
De Blasio said New York City had five weeks of preparation before the first case of COVID-19, whereas Italy had almost no preparation before experiencing a full-blown crisis.
According to Dr. Barbot, the average time that it takes for someone that has been exposed to COVID-19 to develop symptoms is anywhere from five to six days. In that time most people develop fever and cough or fever and shortness of breath.
“What we are advising New Yorkers to do is stay home for the first 48 hours and if they are not getting better then reach out to their doctor,” Dr. Barbot said. “What we are asking doctors to do is to implement things such as instead of someone having to go into the office they can be assessed over the phone or FaceTime.”
When necessary, physicians can administer a test called BioFire, which rules in or out 26 common diseases.
“If you do not have one of those and have symptoms consistent of coronavirus, then we want you tested for coronavirus,” de Blasio said. “If you came back from one of the affected countries and have symptoms, we want to get you tested, and if you have a direct nexus to an existing coronavirus case and have symptoms, we want to get you tested.
The Deputy Mayor for Health, Dr. Perea-Henze, said that the public health lab in New York City can do up to 60 or 80 tests a day.
“As of today, commercial labs are online, Quest and LabCorp,” Dr. Perea-Henze said. “The governor announced that 28 more labs statewide will be approved to do testing, and some can do 150 to 200 tests. By the end of the week, collectively we will lave the capacity to do 5,000 tests a week.”
Direct contact and fluid transmission is the essence of what spreads the disease. You will not get the disease through food or drink. They said that people should not avoid going to restaurants but should make sure they are healthy when doing so.
The virus’s origins in Wuhan, China, have inspired a rash of anti-Asian propaganda and racist incidents, which de Blasio addressed.
“We have seen particularly troubling incidents of discrimination directed at Chinese communities,” he said. “This is unacceptable. I am beseeching you all to tell members of your communities that if they are a victim of a hate crime it must be reported to NYPD so we can act on it and find the perpetrators. There will be consequences.”
The city will also be giving benefits and aid to restaurants and businesses that have been negatively impacted as a result of the Coronavirus.
“For businesses of fewer than five employees, we can do direct grants up to 40 percent of their operating expenses,” De Blasio said. “We can do substantial direct grants. We are looking for any other direct relief we can find.”
Avoid crowds, and if you can don’t ride on the subway in rush hour. There has been no suggestion to delay the Census or the borough president election, which a reporter asked de Blasio about.
Dr. Perea-Henze said that 80 percent of people who get the virus will be impacted minimally and recover after not a lot of time. The government will not use emergency powers until they absolutely have to.
When considering the public school system, they don’t want a full closure but want to pinpoint specific schools based on specific needs. They want to keep schools open for the overall benefit of the kids.
“Families depend on those schools for a safe place for those kids, and many families have no alternative, in some cases, as a place to get their children quality food and nutrition,” de Blasio observed. “Families want to make sure their kids get educated. We all care about health and safety first, but the notion of losing months of a child’s education should be troubling for all of us.”
Starting on March 11, all international school trips for the remainder of the school year are cancelled.
Officials handed out a COVID-19 guidance and safety tips flyer at the meeting. It is available in 15 languages and will be available in 23 languages by Friday, 3/13.
The flyer says that if you have chronic heart disease, diabetes, a compromised immune system, chronic lung disease and/or cancer, you are advised to limit exposure to large gatherings and crowds.
If you are not sick, there is no need to wear any kind of mask in public. If taking public transportation, authorities recommend practicing good hygiene by avoiding touching your mouth or face and washing you hands with soap for 20 seconds following the ride on the train or bus.
They are asking New Yorkers to help with overcrowding on the trains. They recommend that those who can get to where they are going by walking, biking, taking a ferry, or taking a car should do so in order to help themselves and other New Yorkers stay healthy.
Consider coming into work an hour earlier or later to avoid overcrowding. The city is advising employees to telecommute where appropriate.
In terms of visiting elderly family members, if you are sick, then stay home. If you are not sick, it is fine to visit family, but practice good hygiene.
Animals are not known to transmit COVID-19 and you should feel free to walk your dog. It also also fine to take a cab or Uber/Lyft.
If you have any questions about finding medical care call 311. A useful website to go to at this time is nyc.gov/coronavirus.
To get updates on the latest developments with coronavirus in New York City text COVID to 692-692. You will receive regular texts with the latest news and developments.
