Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress Combating COVID-19 - NOVEMBER 29, 2022

 

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

60 Statewide Deaths Reported from November 26th to November 28th

 Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating COVID-19.

"I urge New Yorkers to take advantage of all available tools to keep themselves and their loved ones 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."

Last week, Governor Hochul urged New Yorkers to take common prevention measures - like staying up to date on vaccines and practicing proper hygiene - to protect from Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), flu and COVID-19 and reduce the patient burden on local hospitals. Influenza is spreading quickly, with the number of laboratory-confirmed cases statewide and hospitalizations having spiked recently.

Governor Hochul also launched a new public awareness campaign featuring New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett speaking directly to New Yorkers about three viruses - 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 - 19.74
• 7-Day Average Cases Per 100k - 18.37
• Test Results Reported - 43,629
• Total Positive - 3,857
• Percent Positive - 8.27%**
• 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 7.17%**
• Patient Hospitalization - 3,183 (+296)*
• Patients Newly Admitted - 1,249*
• Patients in ICU - 305 (+23)*
• Patients in ICU with Intubation - 120 (+21)*
• Total Discharges - 366,781 (+844)*
• New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 60*
• Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 59,447*

** 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 - 75,836

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	Saturday,   Nov.   26, 2022	Sunday,   Nov.  27, 2022	Monday,   Nov.  28, 2022
Bronx	7.46%	7.60%	7.70%
Kings	7.42%	7.52%	7.61%
New York	7.18%	7.34%	7.50%
Queens	8.32%	8.64%	8.70%
Richmond	6.69%	6.81%	7.17%

WILLIAMS' STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO MAYOR ADAMS' NEW MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVES

 

"Our city’s mental health crisis is longstanding, widespread, and demands increased attention and funding. At the same time, the type of response the city provides is just as critical as its strength, and the city seems stubbornly insistent on using police as main decision makers in mental health emergencies.

"As our office has argued since 2019, mental health is a public health issue – not a criminal one. Unfortunately, as we detailed in our new review just days ago, the city has still not taken many of the steps needed to reform our mental health and public safety infrastructure, and in some ways, has gone backward.

"I am encouraged that the city is now advancing some of the recommendations of my office, including drop-in centers, safe havens, stabilization beds, and outreach vans – this progress must be acknowledged. These tools will make our communities safer, stronger, and healthier, and the city should use this approach as a model for moving forward.

"Still, the mayor’s announcement leaves many details unspecified, questions unanswered, and the administration must provide more information on the intentions, implementation, and non-police investment in its plan. A framework that continues to center overreliance on police, diminishes the role of health professionals, and de-prioritizes the role of peer support will not be sustainable or effective in meeting the needs of New Yorkers in need or a city in crisis."

Man Pleads Guilty To Defrauding Customers Who Bought Cryptocurrency-Mining Computers And Miner Hosting Services

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHET STOJANOVICH, a/k/a “Chester J. Stojanovich,” pled guilty today to wire fraud for defrauding more than a dozen victims of more than $2 million through fraudulent misrepresentations that he would provide the victims with specialized cryptocurrency-mining computers (“Miners”) and Miner hosting services that would provide the victims with a lucrative stream of “hash power” convertible into cryptocurrency.  Instead, STOJANOVICH misappropriated his victims’ money and failed to provide them with the Miners and Miner hosting services they had purchased from him.  STOJANOVICH is scheduled to be sentenced on March 2, 2023, before United States District Judge Denise Cote, who presided over today’s guilty plea hearing.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Cryptocurrency mining has generated much media attention and public excitement in the past few years, but new forms of money and investment can also generate fresh opportunities for old-fashioned fraud.  Chet Stojanovich has pled guilty to using those time-worn fraud techniques on this new financial frontier as he stole millions of dollars from victims who thought they were investing in cryptocurrency mining.”

According to publicly filed documents in this case:

From at least 2019 until his arrest in April 2022, STOJANOVICH controlled various companies, including Chet Mining Co. LLC (“Chet Mining”).  Starting in or about March 2019, STOJANOVICH engaged in a scheme to defraud people who were seeking to purchase Miners and Miner hosting services through which they expected to obtain “hash power” convertible into cryptocurrency and money.  STOJANOVICH defrauded these victims by falsely telling them that he would purchase, and had purchased, Miners on their behalf and that he would provide them with Miner hosting services and had already obtained such Miner hosting services for them.  

In total, STOJANOVICH fraudulently induced more than a dozen customer-victims to pay a total of more than $2 million to STOJANOVICH and his companies, ostensibly in return for Miners and Miner hosting services.  Despite fraudulent representations to the contrary, STOJANOVICH: (1) failed to provide many of the Miners that he told customers he had acquired; (2) failed to provide the Miner hosting services and cryptocurrency hash power that he represented he would provide; (3) employed deceptive practices to create the illusion that such Miners had been acquired and were being used to provide hash power to those customers; and (4) misappropriated his customers’ funds and spent the funds on unrelated and personal expenditures, including chartered air flights, hotel rooms, limousines, and private parties.

Defrauding at Least 10 Victims in 2019

In the spring and early summer of 2019, STOJANOVICH fraudulently induced at least 10 customers to pay a total of more than $2 million to STOJANOVICH and Chet Mining in return for Miners and Miner hosting services.  Based on these and other misrepresentations, STOJANOVICH issued at least 15 invoices to these 10 victims with instructions to make payment to STOJANOVICH or one of his companies.  As directed by STOJANOVICH, these customers paid STOJANOVICH more than $2 million in bank wires and cryptocurrency transfers.  However, STOJANOVICH failed to provide the Miners and Miner hosting services that he had agreed to provide and for which he had been paid.

Defrauding Three More Victims in 2021

In or about August and September 2021, STOJANOVICH induced at least three additional customer-victims to pay him a total of approximately $179,880 as payment for a total of 127 Miners.  Ultimately, STOJANOVICH provided those customers with only three of the 127 Miners they had paid for and repaid those customers only approximately $61,000 of the $179,880 they had paid, mostly from funds misappropriated from another customer.

The March 2022 Deposition

Several of the victims of the scheme described in the Indictment brought lawsuits against STOJANOVICH in federal court in Manhattan.  In one such lawsuit, Holmes et al. v. Chet Mining, Chet Stojanovich, et ano., Case No. 20 Civ. 4448 (LJL) (S.D.N.Y.), STOJANOVICH was ordered by the court to appear for a deposition on March 4, 2022.  During that deposition, STOJANOVICH testified falsely on a number of subjects.  For example, in response to several questions, STOJANOVICH testified that he did not know the answers without looking in his personal cellphone and falsely testified that his phone was downstairs in his rental car or in storage.  The deposition was thereupon adjourned for a half-hour, and STOJANOVICH was instructed to retrieve his cellphone and return to the deposition.  Instead, STOJANOVICH left the deposition and loitered in the vicinity of his car until after everyone else participating in the deposition had left.  Shortly thereafter, he returned to Canada, where he resided until he was arrested on April 11, 2022, following his attempt to re-enter the United States.

STOJANOVICH, 38, previously of New York, New York, but residing in California since his release on bail in this case, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. 

The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the sentencing judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the investigation of this case