Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday that the state continues to hand out citations to bars and restaurants that violate Covid-19 safety rules but most were delivered in New York City over the weekend. Twenty-seven more businesses were hit, on top of the 105 reported previously.
None were reported on Long Island.
The governor also said that Empire State Development has identified 20 companies that will receive state investment to make supplies to address COVID-19. They were not immediately identified but Cuomo said the agency would renew a request for proposals. “I encourage companies across the state to look at that. If you are in a similar manufacturing line and you want to expand or if you’re actually making the equipment and you want to expand, we have companies in Manhattan who were old clothing manufacturing businesses that are now making medical gowns, so there’s a lot of opportunity and there’s also significant necessity,” Cuomo said.
“We can’t go through what we went through last time. We can’t be scouring the globe and paying exorbitant prices for medical equipment. You know, an N95 mask, before COVID started we paid 70 cents per mask. When the crisis was at the high point, $7 per COVID mask. So it’s not just a necessity. It’s also an economic reality that the price gouging happens and we don’t want to be subject to either.”
This program is designed to ensure that New York State’s health facilities will have access to personal protective equipment such as masks and gowns, if needed.
As of Friday, the state has investigated 240 cases of the Kawasaki-like syndrome that has affected about 240 children in the state.
The New York State Department of Health published a study of children with the syndrome in the New England Journal of Medicine on June 29.
Cuomo also announced the progress of Technology SWAT Partnership in assisting New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first-in-the-nation public-private service partnerships allowed the state to surge tech resources, impacting millions of new Yorkers and saving taxpayer money. The progress report details 19 pro bono projects, all of which bolstered and supported the State’s response during a time of unprecedented need.
“The collaboration between tech industry leaders and our dedicated public employees helped New York meet the technical and operational demands of the response to the pandemic while also saving millions in taxpayer dollars,” Governor Cuomo said. “Their assistance during these challenging times had a positive impact on millions of New Yorkers, and the continued support and services will be critical as we battle a public health emergency and build back our economy even stronger than before.”
The New York State COVID-19 Tech ‘SWAT’ Team, in coordination with state-led internal technical teams, developed 40 projects during the COVID-19 public health crisis that resulted in nearly 50 million interactions between the public and state government and an estimated cost savings of approximately $14 million, according to the progress report issued by the state’s Office of Information Technology Services.
Of the 57,270 test results reported to New York State Monday, 608, or 1.06 percent, were positive.
Long Island reported the highest percentage of positive test results over the three-day period that ended Sunday. Suffolk County had the second-highest number of new cases, with 84, following New York City with 290. Nassau reported 57.
Each region’s percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:
|
REGION |
FRIDAY |
SATURDAY |
SUNDAY |
|
Capital Region |
1.6% |
1.2% |
0.5% |
|
Central New York |
0.8% |
0.4% |
0.4% |
|
Finger Lakes |
0.8% |
0.7% |
0.9% |
|
Long Island |
0.9% |
1.3% |
1.5% |
|
Mid-Hudson |
1.0% |
1.2% |
0.8% |
|
Mohawk Valley |
0.8% |
0.6% |
1.0% |
|
New York City |
1.2% |
1.1% |
1.2% |
|
North Country |
0.4% |
0.3% |
0.2% |
|
Southern Tier |
1.1% |
0.9% |
0.5% |
|
Western New York |
1.0% |
0.9% |
1.2% |