Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers On State's Progress Combating Covid-19 - FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Governor Encourages New Yorkers to Keep Using the Tools to Protect Against and Treat COVID-19: Vaccines, Boosters, Testing and Treatment

22 Statewide Deaths Reported on February 8

 Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combatting COVID-19 and outlined basic steps they can take to protect against the spread of viral respiratory infections that become more common in the winter season.

"I urge all New Yorkers to remain vigilant and continue to use all available tools to keep themselves, their loved ones and their communities safe and healthy," Governor Hochul said. "Be sure to stay up to date on vaccine doses, and test before gatherings or travel. If you test positive, talk to your doctor about potential treatment options."

Governor Hochul is urging New Yorkers to take common prevention measures — like staying up to date on vaccines and practicing proper hygiene — to protect from the flu and COVID-19 and reduce the patient burden on local hospitals. The Governor reiterated these basic steps when she updated New Yorkers on the state's winter health preparedness efforts in December.

The New York State Department of Health's weekly flu surveillance report for the week ending January 28, shows influenza remaining widespread throughout the state for a seventeenth consecutive week, with a total of 308,279 positive cases across 57 counties reported to date. The report found that confirmed cases statewide dropped 34 percent to 2,937 for the week, while overall hospitalizations were down 35 percent from the previous week, at 304 hospitalizations across the state.

Additionally, there were 6 outbreaks in acute care and long-term care facilities, the report determined. There was one influenza-associated pediatric death reported bringing the total to nine statewide.

With flu season continuing and infections remaining widespread, Governor Hochul encourages all New Yorkers to get their annual flu vaccine. The flu virus and the virus that causes COVID-19 are both circulating, so getting vaccinated against both is the best way to stay healthy and to avoid added stress to the health care system.

The Health Department is continuing its annual public education campaign, reminding adults and parents to get both flu and COVID-19 shots for themselves and children 6 months and older. For information about flu vaccine clinics, contact the local health department or visit vaccines.gov/find-vaccines/.

Governor Hochul also continues to urge New Yorkers to get their bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters. In December, the New York State Department of Health announced new guidance for bivalent COVID-19 booster doses, which are now available for eligible children down to 6 months of age.

The updated boosters are the first to be targeted to the original virus strain and recently circulating variants and are recommended for young New Yorkers and all those eligible. To schedule an appointment for a booster, New Yorkers should contact their local pharmacy, county health department, or healthcare provider; visit vaccines.gov; text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations.

Today's data is summarized briefly below:

• Cases Per 100k - 14.90
• 7-Day Average Cases Per 100k - 12.25
• Test Results Reported - 55,748
• Total Positive - 2,911
• Percent Positive - 5.00%**
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 5.27%**
• Patient Hospitalization - 2,236 (-90)
• Patients Newly Admitted - 311
• Patients in ICU - 264 (-17)
• Patients in ICU with Intubation - 102 (0)
• Total Discharges - 398,622 (+366)
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 22
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 61,524

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and several other factors, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data -- not percent positivity.

The Health Electronic Response Data System is a NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities only.

Important Note: Effective Monday, April 4, the federal Department of Health and Human Services is no longer requiring testing facilities that use COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to report negative results. As a result, New York State's percent positive metric will be computed using only lab-reported PCR results. Positive antigen tests will still be reported to New York State and reporting of new daily cases and cases per 100k will continue to include both PCR and antigen tests. Due to this change and other factors, including changes in testing practices, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data -- not percent positivity.

· Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC - 78,197

This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings.

Each New York City borough's 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows **:

Borough	Monday,   February   6, 2023	Tuesday,   February   7, 2023	Wednesday,   February   8, 2023
Bronx	4.98%	4.91%	4.69%
Kings	3.82%	3.69%	3.94%
New York	4.09%	4.09%	3.87%
Queens	4.69%	4.54%	4.33%
Richmond	4.64%	4.30%	4.50%

DCAS’ Inconsistent Record-Keeping Put City at Risk of Price Gouging During Early Days of COVID-19

 

Auditors in the New York City Comptroller's Office investigated $1B+ of emergency procurements for PPE & ventilators in first 3 months of the pandemic

The New York City Comptroller’s Office released a review that found that the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ (DCAS) inconsistent documentation, lack of documented price analysis, and poor oversight made the City susceptible to price gouging and missing or defective PPE orders at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of 59 procurements with a total initial value at over $1 billion, DCAS did not provide documents on 11 vendor background checks. In 4 out of those 11, the vendors provided either defective products or did not provide any goods at all. In addition, DCAS identified adverse information for 6 procurements (total $173 million), but did not report this information to Mayor’s Office of Contract Services (MOCS) or the Law Department.

“Emergency procurement is a necessary tool for responding to crises – the City cannot slog through a RFP process while people are getting sick and dying. But the City must protect itself from crisis profiteers,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.

Comptroller Lander acknowledged the extraordinary scale of the challenge that DCAS and other City agencies faced during the early days of COVID-19.

Comptroller Lander continued, “DCAS scaled up its operations in truly unprecedented times to procure PPE and ventilators when supplies were scarce and the competition was fierce for resources. Checks and balances exist to mitigate risks even in crises, since unfortunately some vendors will price gouge, look to get paid for shoddy products, or claim to sell items they don’t have at all. This review can serve as a guide for future emergencies for how to balance the need to move swiftly with appropriate controls for vendor responsibility and price documentation.”

To procure essential goods that were in short supply for the City, Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an emergency executive order (EEO) that suspended some procurement rules, including the requirement for competitive bidding. However, City Hall’s guidance did not suspend agencies’ obligation to conduct “vendor responsibility determinations,” which are intended to mitigate risk of contracting with irresponsible vendors. When vendors fail to provide goods or provides defective goods, the City incurs additional legal, contractual, and administrative costs on top of the delay in supplies. Since DCAS did not consistently conduct vendor background checks or disregarded adverse information, the City risked incurring additional costs and contracting with subpar vendors.

The Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued guidance urging agencies to do their best to comply with procurement requirements, including “cost reasonableness/cost comparison prior to solicitation.” While DCAS claimed that it conducted price analysis and that reasonableness varied over time based on fluctuations in stock and availability, auditors found that DCAS did not document price comparisons. Auditors also found that DCAS may have overpaid for some items. For example, DCAS paid Destiny Aprons $7.50 per cloth mask for one order and $4.80 per piece for another order of the same masks, more than double the average price of a cloth mask at $2.21 apiece.

In addition, the City created a 4-member Prepayment Review Committee (DCAS, MOCS, OMB, the Law Department) to authorize prepayments of goods and services in response to COVID-19 in March 2020 (in normal procurement, the City does not pay for goods until after they are delivered and verified). DCAS did not obtain approval or did not document approval from one or more members of the Committee for more than half (17) of the sampled 32 prepaid procurements. In 5 out of those 17 procurements, vendors did not provide goods or provided defective or poor-quality goods. Notably, DCAS prepaid Digital Gadgets $9.1 million for ventilators that the vendor was unable to deliver. This money was then applied instead to a delivery of N95 masks that were of poor quality or not FDA-certified. Only on the third try did Digital Gadgets provide masks that were accepted by DCAS.

In light of the auditors’ findings, the Comptroller’s office recommends these key steps to reduce the risk of wasteful spending during future emergencies:

• Ensure that staff perform, document, and report its reviews of vendors.

• Conduct document analysis for reasonable prices that form the basis of vendor selection.
• Maintain supporting documentation for procurement in files and records.
• Determine whether to permit advance payments to procure goods, services, and construction during emergencies, and if so, establish protocols to mitigate risks.

Across Fiscal Years 2020 to 2022, Mayoral agencies (primarily under the previous administration) used emergency executive authority to enact 886 new COVID-19 contracts, valuing $6.24 billion, relating to homeless shelters, emergency hotels, staffing, personal protective equipment (PPE), food, supplies, testing services, and ventilators. Additionally, the administration processed 774 contract modifications and 96 task orders since March 2020.

The City is currently utilizing emergency procurement, authorized by Mayoral Executive Orders and affirmed by the Comptroller, to address the humanitarian crisis on Rikers Island as well as provide shelter and services for asylum-seekers.

Read the auditors’ findings here.