Stay the course.
Stay the course.
Stay the course.
That’s the word Governor Cuomo had for New Yorkers Monday as the COVID-19 numbers begin to show signs of flattening.
And it’s one that Public Health Director Amy Gildemeister echoed, even as the first death of a Schoharie County resident being treated for COVID-19 was reported Monday.
“Our sympathies go out to the family,” Dr. Gildemeister said.
It’s still unknown whether the cause of death will be listed as COVID-19, she said.
Also Monday, the number of positives reached 21, including a non-resident who works at SUNY Cobleskill.
Of the 20 county residents testing positive, four are still in isolation, and 15 have recovered and are off isolation.
The Health Department is following 28 people placed in isolation or quarantine, 102 people have been allowed to resume normal activities, and three have been hospitalized.
Dr. Gildemeister said the relatively low numbers here show the value of social-distancing--even as she stressed the importance of keeping it up.
“What we’ve done here is dampen the curve,” she said. “But as soon as we let up, as soon as we start opening businesses—which we have to do—they’re going to escalate.”
Statewide, there have been 160,000 cases of COVID-19 with 10,056 deaths, 671 of them Easter Sunday, “Like a fire going through dry grass,” Governor Cuomo said, even as he praised the state’s “very aggressive reaction” in the first of back-to-back press conferences Monday.
In the second, he joined with the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Delaware in announcing plans to collaborate on a regional approach to reopening businesses “to gradually lift the states’ stay-at-home orders while minimizing the risk of increased spread of the virus.”
It’s a plan that may be different for New York City and rural upstate New York, Governor Cuomo said.
“We’re all learning. It’s new for all of us. The state boundaries mean very little to this virus. This is a delicate balance. It has never been done before.”
Though New York’s COVID-19 cases have been concentrated downstate, both Governor Cuomo and Dr. Gildemeister said the virus feeds on “density”--and that can be anywhere.
Dr. Gildemeister made that point heading into the Easter holiday in robocalls to residents.
“It appears that we may be avoiding the worst-case scenario,” she said in her message and also in a Facebook post.
“This is only because New York has taken social distancing very seriously. Please continue to be vigilant.”
And that, she said, will continue to be the hard part as warmer weather comes and as people want their lives to get back to normal.
Both Governor Cuomo and Dr. Gildemeister said developing treatments, better testing, and a vaccine are critical to getting past COVID.
“I think it’s going to be a while,” Dr. Gildemeister said; maybe as long as 12 or 18 months, Governor Cuomo said.
“That’s when it’s over,” he said. “But there will be points between now and then when we can feel better. It won’t be flipping a switch. But there will be points of resolution…I believe the worst is over if we can be smart.”
For now, Dr. Gildemeister continues to point to the importance of social distancing—far more effective, she said, than donning masks and gloves, which need to be done correctly to be effective.
“We’ve saved lives in Schoharie County [by social distancing]” she said. “I know it’s hard, but people listened and paid attention. Now we need to get to the next step in conjunction with the Governor. But that’s not going to happen if we stop social distancing.”