This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Sunday, May 17th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.
Read our guide to understanding New York on PAUSE, NY's stay-at-home order, as well as what the upstate reopening means; a look at preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.
1:30 p.m.: Governor Andrew Cuomo defended his approach to COVID-19 prevention in nursing homes across the state when questioned by a reporter about his response to family whose loved ones have died in long term care facilities due to the coronavirus.
"People are going to die by this virus. That is the truth," Cuomo said during a Sunday press briefing in Albany. "Older people, vulnerable people are going to die from this virus. That is going to happen, despite whatever you do. Because with all our progress as a society, we can't keep everyone alive."
The Cuomo administration has been criticized for allowing people with the coronavirus to be transferred to nursing homes under guidance issued by the state on March 25th. Thousands of residents in long term adult care facilities have died statewide since the outbreak began. A week ago, the state partially reversed the March directive, announcing hospitals must ensure patients test negative for COVID-19 before being discharged into nursing homes. A person with the virus could still be taken into a nursing home from elsewhere, unless the operator tells the state they cannot follow proper isolation and protective procedures.
The state's death toll reached 22,617 on Sunday, after another 139 people died overnight, the governor also announced.
33 of the 139 new deaths were in nursing homes. State figures show 5,705 people in nursing homes and adult care facilities in New York have died of confirmed or presumed COVID-19 through May 15th.
"Who is accountable for those 139 deaths? How do we get justice for those families who had 139 deaths? What is justice? Who can we prosecute for those deaths? Nobody," Cuomo said.
New York has the best hospital system and doctors, Cuomo said. "We worked it out so we always had available beds. Nobody was deprived of a bed or medical coverage in any way and still people died."
"Older people are more vulnerable and that is a fact and that is not going to change," Cuomo said. "Look, to me, the really difficult conversations for me are, 'My son was 40 years old, he was not a senior citizen, did not have a comorbidity, and got this virus because he was an essential worker and doing the right thing and he had an aneurysm.' There's a randomness to this virus that is inexplicable. Why do people die? That's beyond this. Who's accountable?"
When asked a follow-up question about how some families believe that under different protocols their loved ones would be alive, Cuomo said: "People rationalize death in different ways. I don't think there is any logical rationale to say they would be alive today."
Also at the Sunday briefing, Cuomo demonstrated a nasal swab test during the press conference to encourage New Yorkers with symptoms or other eligibility requirements to get testing.
He announced those who would return to work in the first phase of reopening are now eligible for tests across 700 different sites statewide—as well as those with coronavirus symptoms, who have been exposed to someone who tested positive, under quarantine, who are essential workers like healthcare professionals or who interact with the public.
Testing capacity has reached 40,000 a day in New York State, but the capacity is not being fully utilized, Cuomo said. 60 CVS pharmacies will be transformed into test sites as well. For test locations, see here.
De Blasio Will Keep NYC Beaches Closed For Now
11:30 a.m.: Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to keep New York City beaches closed to swimming when summer unofficially starts on Memorial Day weekend. But people who live nearby will still be permitted to walk on the beach, the mayor said on Sunday.
"If someone wants to, from the local community, walk on the beach, that's okay. We're going to let that happen for now," de Blasio said during a press briefing on May 17th. "But if we start to see people congregating, if we start to see people swimming, if we start to see people doing things that literally go against everything we've talked about in terms of health and safety, then we will take further measures."
Fencing could be erected to block off entry points to the beach if social distancing protocols aren't followed, the mayor said, adding that he doesn't want people flocking to the beach on the A train.
"No swimming, no parties, no sports, no gatherings, we're going to give people a chance to get it right," de Blasio said. "If people don't get it right, if we start to see a lot of violations of those rules, up will come the fences closing off those beaches. No one wants that. But we're ready to do it if that's what it takes to keep people safe."
There won't be lifeguards on-duty come Memorial Day weekend. But lifeguards will still be trained in case the beaches could reopen later this summer.
"I've never ruled out the possibility of beaches being opened later in the summer, but we're not ready yet," de Blasio said. "The word is, no, not yet, not now, beaches are not open for swimming, they're not open for all the normal things that people do in beach season."
Steps from where the city's control of Rockaway beach ends, the National Park Service oversees the shoreline at Jacob Riis and Fort Tilden. According to the NPS website, the beaches will be open there, though picnic areas and other facilities are closed. It's unclear if the de Blasio administration will attempt to restrict access to those beaches. A spokesperson for the NPS did not immediately respond to a question about whether lifeguards will be on duty at Jacob Riis this summer. [UPDATE: An NPS spokesperson said in an email that they are"in the process of evaluating hiring lifeguards for the summer."]
Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday New York's state beaches would be allowed to open Memorial Day weekend with a 50 percent reduction on parking and social distancing measures put into effect.
During the press conference, the mayor announced the city is expanding its testing capacity in a partnership with CityMD at 123 new sites. They'll add another 6,000 diagnostic tests a day, seven days a week.
Site locations are available at citymd.com.
Daily testing capacity has reached 20,000 a week ahead of the administration's goal—May 17th instead of May 25th, de Blasio announced.
As a part of the city's test-and-trace strategy, 500 tracers have finished Johns Hopkins University training, with another 1,000 who have begun training. 100 tracers will begin working the week of May 24th, and a total of 1,000 tracers will start work at the end of the month.
By June 1st, the city will hire 200 to 300 "resource navigators" who will connect people who are isolated due to the coronavirus food, medicine, and other resources.
"In the next literally two weeks you're going to see a vast testing and tracing operation come alive like we've never seen before in this city," de Blasio said.
The three daily indicators the city has been tracking were "good" but not perfect between May 14th and May 15th. People admitted to the hospital for suspected COVID-19 remained at 77. Patients in Health + Hospitals intensive care unit beds dropped from 506 to 469. The percentage of people who tested positive for the virus dropped from 13 to 11 percent citywide.
Former President Barack Obama speaking to the nation's high school seniors
Obama Questions "Folks In Charge" Of Pandemic Response During Commencement Address
Former President Barack Obama made pointed critiques of how the coronavirus pandemic is being handled by leaders during two virtual commencement speeches on Saturday. "More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge," he said in his address to graduates of historically black colleges and universities.
In his address to graduating high school seniors (transcript), he broke the news, "All those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing? Turns out that they don’t have all the answers. A lot of them aren’t even asking the right questions. So, if the world’s going to get better, it going to be up to you."
If you’d planned on going away for college, getting dropped off at campus in the fall — that’s no longer a given. If you were planning to work while going to school, finding that first job is going to be tougher. Even families that are relatively well-off are dealing with massive uncertainty. Those who were struggling before — they’re hanging on by a thread.
All of which means that you’re going to have to grow up faster than some generations. This pandemic has shaken up the status quo and laid bare a lot of our country’s deep-seated problems — from massive economic inequality to ongoing racial disparities to a lack of basic health care for people who need it. It’s woken a lot of young people up to the fact that the old ways of doing things just don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; and that our society and our democracy only work when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.
The former president addressed racism in both speeches, and also referred to the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia while speaking to the HBCU graduates (transcript):
[T]hese aren’t normal times. You’re being asked to find your way in a world in the middle of a devastating pandemic and a terrible recession. The timing is not ideal. And let’s be honest — a disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country. We see it in the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on our communities, just as we see it when a black man goes for a jog, and some folks feel like they can stop and question and shoot him if he doesn’t submit to their questioning.
Injustice like this isn’t new. What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing; that the old ways of doing things don’t work; and that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick; that our society and democracy only works when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.
Earlier this month, Yahoo News reported that Obama blasted President Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic as "an absolute chaotic disaster" in a private phone call to former staffers. He was encouraging them to work for former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign:
"This election that’s coming up on every level is so important because what we’re going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a political party. What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life. And by the way, we’re seeing that internationally as well. It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty. It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government."
Obama did not name anyone in particular during his speeches, but White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany offered a rebuttal, "President Trump’s unprecedented coronavirus response has saved lives... Moreover, President Trump directed the greatest mobilization of the private sector since World War II to fill the stockpile left depleted by his predecessor." (The claim that the Obama administration "depleted" the stockpile has been deemed "mostly false" by Politifact, which notes that the Republican-controlled Congress also contributed to problems of the chronically under-supplied stockpile.)
Numerous reports suggest that Trump ignored numerous warnings about COVID-19, beginning as early as January. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board has criticized his White House briefings about the virus: "The President’s outbursts against his political critics are also notably off key at this moment. This isn’t impeachment, and Covid-19 isn’t shifty Schiff. It’s a once-a-century threat to American life and livelihood."
In his address to high school seniors, Obama offered three pieces of advice: "Don't be afraid"; "do what you think is right"; and "build a community." On community building, he reminded them, "If we’re going to get through these difficult times; if we’re going to create a world where everybody has the opportunity to find a job, and afford college; if we’re going to save the environment and defeat future pandemics, then we’re going to have to do it together. So be alive to one another’s struggles. Stand up for one another’s rights. Leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us — sexism, racial prejudice, status, greed — and set the world on a different path."
