CIARA LONG, NEWSCASTER: From Columbia Radio News in New York, I’m Ciara Long.
***
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this morning that all New Yorkers leaving the house should cover their noses and mouths with bandanas, scarves or homemade masks.
DE BLASIO: It does not, not need to be a professional surgical mask. In fact, we don’t want you to use the kind of masks that our first responders need. (00:11)
LONG 2: This is a change from previous guidelines, which said that masks weren’t necessary. The thinking now is to stop asymptomatic carriers from spreading the disease.
De Blasio also said that the number of people in the city in need of ventilators could more than double by early next week to 5,000.
***
Starting today, any New Yorker can now get three free meals a day from the city...available for pickup at over 400 sites.
***
Roughly 30 patients previously at Elmhurst Hospital, Queens, have been transferred to Veterans Affairs hospitals across the city.
Elmhurst Hospital was overwhelmed with the number of coronavirus patients as Queens became the epicenter of the outbreak in New York.
Meanwhile, at least 20 hotels across the state have been leased as temporary hospitals. That’s in addition to the makeshift hospitals that have been set up in Central Park and the Javits Convention Center.
***
Two workers from New York’s Board of Elections have died from the coronavirus. Under a state directive, board workers are considered “essential” and have been allowed to keep working as New York heads towards its June 23 primary..
***
Nurses in The Bronx yesterday morning staged a protest against working conditions that they say are unsanitary and harmful.
They say that hospital management at the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Division is asking them to reuse disposable N95 respirators, and that they need more Personal Protective Equipment.
***
And for those of you taking a social isolation walk this weekend, the weather’s going to stay sunny with a slight wind. Temperatures should hover around the mid-40s.
For Columbia Radio News, I’m Ciara Long.
Comments