Eric Schmidt Will Lead 15-Member Commission and Use What the State Has Learned During COVID-19 Pandemic, Combined with New Technologies, to Improve Telehealth and Broadband Systems Across the State
Outlines Results of New Hospitalization Data to Further Reduce Number of New Hospitalizations per Day
JetBlue is Donating 100,000 Pairs of Round-Trip Flights for Medical Personnel and Nurses
Confirms 2,786 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State - Bringing Statewide Total to 323,978; New Cases in 45 Counties
Governor Cuomo: “We have to reopen the society. It's like asking when do you start breathing. You have to breathe. The economy must function. People need incomes. The economy has to work. The state needs revenues. People have to be able to live their lives. You have to be able to get out of the house. You have to be able to see friends. You have to be able to see family. It's not a question of do we reopen. It's a question of how we reopen. That's really the question that we have to grapple with and that we're dealing with in New York.”
Cuomo: “Nobody knows better than New Yorkers how our nurses really stepped up with our health care professionals. You know, when the pressure is on in our lives, you wind up seeing the best and the worst in people and heroes rise to the occasion, and that's what we saw here in the state of New York. Our frontline health care workers were just extraordinary. Showing up every day, working impossible hours, a virus that nobody understood, fear of infection, but they just kept rising to the occasion. And that's why New York and the nation just loves all of our health care workers, but our nurses especially have done a phenomenal job.”
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Schmidt Futures will help integrate New York State practices and systems with the best advanced technology tools to build back better. Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO and Executive Chairman and founder of Schmidt Futures, will lead the state's 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission and use what the state has learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with new technologies, to improve telehealth and broadband access.
The Governor also outlined the results of new hospitalization data that was collected from hospitals in a new targeted effort to further reduce the number of new hospitalizations per day. The state received 1,269 survey responses from 113 hospitals over three days and found that the majority of individuals were:
- Not working or traveling;
- Predominately located downstate;
- Predominately minorities and older individuals;
- Predominately non-essential employees; and
- Predominately at home.
The Governor also announced that JetBlue is donating 100,000 pairs of round-trip flights for medical personnel and nurses to honor their efforts, beginning with 10,000 pairs of tickets for New York medical professionals. Additionally, three painted JetBlue planes honoring New York's frontline workers will do a flyover above New York City on Thursday, May 7th, at 7:00 p.m.
