Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress Combating COVID-19 - NOVEMBER 18, 2022

 

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

18 Statewide Deaths Reported Yesterday

 Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating COVID-19 and plan to protect against the spread of viral respiratory infections that become more common in the fall and winter seasons.  

"With the holidays approaching, New Yorkers must prepare and do what they can to keep their loved ones and their communities safe and healthy," Governor Hochul said. "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."

Earlier this month, Governor Hochul launched a new public awareness campaign featuring New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett speaking directly to New Yorkers about three viruses - Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), flu and COVID-19 - now circulating in the state with similar symptoms and the potential to cause serious illness. Produced by the New York State Department of Health, the videos include a short clip and a longer version geared toward parents; and a version aimed specifically at health care providers.     

Governor Hochul continues to remind New Yorkers that children ages 5 and older may now receive the bivalent booster shots that are recommended to increase protection against COVID-19. 

The Governor also urges New Yorkers to get their bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters. 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.  

In addition, Governor Hochul encourages New Yorkers to get their annual flu vaccine as flu season is widespread across New York State. 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 State Department of Health 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. Advertisements in both English and Spanish language began running last month. 

For information about flu vaccine clinics, contact the local health department or visit vaccines.gov/find-vaccines/.

Today's data is summarized briefly below:    

• Cases Per 100k - 20.62
• 7-Day Average Cases Per 100k - 18.30
• Test Results Reported - 64,433
• Total Positive - 4,029
• Percent Positive - 5.83%
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 5.83%
• Patient Hospitalization - 2,629 (-57)
• Patients Newly Admitted - 409
• Patients in ICU - 261 (-13)
• Patients in ICU with Intubation - 97 (-10)
• Total Discharges - 363,328 (446)
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 18
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 59,203

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 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 (HHS) 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 - 75,522

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. 

• Total vaccine doses administered - 40,404,057
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours - 4,214
• Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days - 22, 435
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose - 93.5%
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series - 84.8%  
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 95.0%  
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 89.8%
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 12-17 with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 86.3%
• Percent of New Yorkers ages 12-17 with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 75.7%
• Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose - 83.7%  
• Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series - 75.6% 
• Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) - 93.5% 
• Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 79.9% 

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

Borough	Tuesday,  November   15, 2022	Wednesday,   November   16, 2022	Thursday,   November   17, 2022
Bronx	6.62%	6.83%	6.93%
Kings	6.18%	6.27%	6.12%
New York	5.88%	6.07%	6.10%
Queens	6.83%	6.88%	6.83%
Richmond	5.49%	5.43%	5.33%

BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS IN PRISON FOR RUNNING FENTANYL AND HEROIN MILL OUT OF HIS HOME

 

Jury Found Defendant Guilty of Criminal Possession of Controlled Substance Charges

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of narcotics charges for running a heroin and fentanyl mill out of his Riverdale home.

 District Attorney Clark says, “Fentanyl is killing Bronxites, and destroys the lives of its victims and their families. With this sentencing, there is one less person on our streets selling deadly drugs. My Office will continue our efforts to keep these narcotics off the streets by pursuing and prosecuting those who harm our community. I thank our partners at the NYPD and Drug Enforcement Administration for working with us in this investigation.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Ariel Jimenez, 37, of 4570 Henry Hudson Parkway, was sentenced today to 16 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Lester Adler. A jury found the defendant guilty of three counts of first-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, second-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, and three counts of third-degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, with intent to sell a narcotic, on November 16, 2021.

 On April 6, 2017, while authorities were conducting a separate investigation, NYPD and DEA Officers stopped a vehicle Jimenez was a passenger in outside of his home, after he appeared to be in a drug transaction with a known major trafficker. Authorities seized a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of fentanyl from under the driver seat after Jimenez attempted to stash it there. Execution of a search warrant of his home resulted in the seizure of nearly a kilogram (2.1 pounds) of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, ketamine and Tramadol in one room, and over 2 kilograms (4.5 pounds) of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine in a second room, some packaged in smaller quantities for sale. In addition to the narcotics, investigators found a kilogram press, a blender, heavy duty tape, strainers, breathing ventilators, nitrile gloves, cellophane wrap, vacuum sealer, scales, a drug ledger, measuring cups and bottles, indicating Jimenez operated a drug mill out of this residence.

 District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Thomas Decker of the Drug Enforcement Strike Force, Special Agent Thomas Mulhall of U.S. Homeland Security, Special Agent Michael Reed of the Drug Enforcement Agency and Clarkstown Police Department Detective William Gomez of the Drug Enforcement Task Force, as well as other members of Group Z 51 of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Drug Enforcement Strike Force, for their assistance in the investigation.

NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE RELEASES NEW REVIEW OF CITY’S PROGRESS ON MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE AND PUBLIC SAFETY

 

 Three years after his office put forth a roadmap to reform for the city’s approach to mental health crises response and support systems, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today released a review of the city’s progress toward meeting this issue, the areas in which it has moved backward, and new recommendations to meet the current moment.  

As was made starkly clear on Election Day, public safety has been a top concern for New Yorkers, and mental health is a critical component of public safety. Rather than dismissing the issue or accepting misleading, disingenuous, arguments about public safety, it is vital to envision and enact policies which actually address the roots of public safety, including mental health. For New Yorkers to both be safe and feel safe, it’s vital to treat mental crises as a public health issue, and respond as such, rather than a criminal issue with a law enforcement response. 

“Public safety is not a political talking point to be weaponized, and mental health crises are not to be demonized – these are issues that demand real, informed solutions. In the three years since our office proposed a new model for mental health crisis response, we have elected new leaders on all levels of government, but progress on this issue has been frustratingly slow – in some ways, we have gone backwards,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “The impacts of the pandemic on both our individual and collective mental health, the trauma incurred, have only heightened the need for systemic reform to holistically address this crisis as an issue of health, rather than simply law enforcement. Since 2019, the list of names lost to inadequate mental health infrastructure has only grown. It is our responsibility now to realize the reforms needed and the urgency of action, to prevent more suffering and loss.”

The new review, Improving New York City’s Responses to Individuals in Mental Health Crisis: 2022, finds that while New York has made progress in some areas since 2019 in line with the Public Advocate’s recommendations, in others it has remained stagnant and even gone backward. The updated report opens with a letter to Mayor Eric Adams lamenting that “In the three years since our initial report, that urgency has not been evident in the actions taken by the administration. While some progress has been made in line with our office’s recommendations, the prior administration was unwilling to more fully embrace the kind of changes our city needs.”

The Public Advocate’s original 2019 report investigated and analyzed how New York City responds to, supports, and treats individuals experiencing acute mental distress. In many cases, rather than realizing these recommendations and reforming public safety systems, city and state governments have repeatedly prioritized law enforcement in these interactions, often without proper training and sometimes with deadly consequences. 

For example, the review found that instead of increasing respite centers, vital spaces for people experiencing mental health crises, the number of centers in the city has been cut in half. 

Fortunately, following the original report, the city did expand its number of drop-In centers, multi-service facilities for unhoused New Yorkers that provide a variety of services including food, social workers, and referrals to additional programs. They also opened two mental health urgent care centers following our office’s recommendations, and invested in expanding safe havens. Still, currently, there are only four respite centers, two mental health urgent care centers; and seven drop-in centers to serve over eight million New Yorkers. 

Additionally, while the city has explored some initiatives for non-police response to mental health crises, it has not approached the essential investment of resources, infrastructural support, or leadership buy-in to these programs. There are fewer Mobile Crisis Teams now than in 2019, officers are still not provided with sufficient Crisis Intervention Training, and far, far too often, police are still being dispatched as the default response to mental health emergencies. 

As a result of this review, and assessing the current situation on the ground, the Public Advocate’s office is now releasing these additional, updated recommendations, in line with the principles of the original report.

These new recommendations include:

•   Expand the hours of operation for Mobile Crisis Teams and implement a shorter direct-line phone number for New Yorkers to call.
•   Create and implement a non-police number for individuals in crisis that does not involve law enforcement.
•  Administer standardized mental health screenings annually for all New York City public school students.
•   Train all NYPD officers who interact with the public in Crisis Intervention Training.
•  Fill, fund, and build supportive housing so that unhoused individuals have a pathway towards permanent housing while maintaining access to wraparound services.

This is a new moment of urgency for action toward what works, not what fits into a narrative or preconceived notion of public safety. As the Public Advocate urges the Adams administration in his letter, “Time has passed, but the moment for action, the moral mandate for reform, is ongoing. It is my hope that you, your administration, our partners in government, and New Yorkers review both our original recommendations and this new assessment, and use it as a framework for a renewed commitment to mental health support in our city … This ‘past and present’ review is most effective only if it provides a path toward the future.”

Read the review and original report here.

“With 19 people having died at the hands of the NYPD when experiencing a mental health crisis in the last seven years alone – 16 of them persons of color – it is high time for the City to transform its response to mental health crises by removing the police. We laud the Public Advocate for his newly-released report calling for a healthcare response, not a police response, and strongly advocating for increased voluntary mental health services for all New Yorkers in need,” said Ruth Lowenkron, Esq., Director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and a long-time member of the steering committee of Correct Crisis Intervention Today – NYC (CCIT-NYC).”