New York Governor Andrew Cuomo suggested the state is beginning to reach its apex of coronavirus cases, though he cautioned that numbers are changing daily.
Announcing 599 deaths in the last 24 hours, Cuomo called the fatality number “effectively flat for two days,” which he said hints at a possible flattening of New York’s curve, along with fewer hospital and ICU admissions. Early projections showed the state would need 55,000 to 110,000 hospital beds, and the governor noted that the state is tracking at a rate lower than the initial modeling suggested.
“If we are plateauing, it’s because social distancing is working,” he said, however, he also stated that numbers could still continue to rise.
“The big question that we’re looking at now is: what is the curve?” he asked rhetorically, before saying that the curve could either be a short peak or a longer plateau, which would still overburden an already strained system.
Cuomo said the state will continue moving ventilators to New York City's public hospital system and that the state will continue its “surge and flex” program to shift gear and equipment to hospitals most pressed at any given time.
“This is a hospital system where we have our foot to the floor, and the engine is at redline and you can’t go any faster,” he described. “Staying at this level is problematic.”
The governor also announced an extension of NY Pause, extending restrictions on schools and nonessential businesses to April 29 and that he planned to ask President Trump to designate the USNS Comfort, currently being underutilized due to what Cuomo said was lower-than-expected non-COVID hospitalizations, a treatment center for coronavirus patients.
When asked about the availability of ventilators, Cuomo said “all of them” are being used. “We’re beyond capacity.”
“We are into the Plan B, C, D that we outlined,” he said. But, “we don't need any ventilators right now,” he said on his way out of the press conference. Despite hospitals using BIPAP machines and splitting ventilators, the New York governor expressed that he does not believe anyone has lost their life due to a lack of equipment or staffing. “The people we lost are the people we couldn’t save.”
He also displayed photos from New York City parks in an effort to chastise people for not staying inside, calling it “wholly unacceptable,” and announced an increase in the maximum fine for breaking social distancing rules to $1,000.
“What right do you have to act irresponsibly in a way that could get you sick, or someone else sick, and then I have to send an ambulance to pick you up and bring you to an emergency room that’s already overburdened?” Cuomo asked.
Regarding drug trials of hydroxychloroquine and Zithromax, Cuomo claimed that they have had some positive results but that those results were anecdotal and not yet conclusive.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of Achieve Life Sciences discusses a new plant-based compound that's being used to fight nicotine addiction; President & CEO OF DiaMedica Therapeutics explains a new ischemic stroke treatment option that expands the window for effective therapy for stroke patients; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Asteroid Rush.'
Catching you up on today's entertainment headlines with the Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off in NYC, "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dropped its first full trailer, the musical "Come From Away" based on a true story set during 9/11 will be closing on Broadway this October, and more.
Survivors of Larry Nassar, including Olympian Simone Biles, are seeking $1 billion in damages from the FBI due to its failure to investigate the former gymnastics team doctor convicted of committing years of serial sexual abuse of minors. Jack Queen, a senior reporter at Law360, joined Cheddar News to break down the legal grounds of this case. "This is one of the biggest black eyes that the Bureau has faced in generations, quite frankly, and the FBI has taken full responsibility and admitted that it completely botched this investigation," he said. "So, there's a lot of pressure to settle."
The Elevate Prize Foundation is donating $10,000 to different grassroots organizations based on a theme every month to help scale their work, focusing on a different theme each time. Upcoming prizes will help uplift an organization supporting the LGBTQ community and one mobilizing to help end gun violence. The foundation's CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram joined Cheddar to discuss the initiative and why it's important to uplift these grassroots organizations. "We are identifying social entrepreneurs around the world to help them scale their work. but the ultimate purpose of that is to create the first-ever fanbase for good," she said. "We're trying to make good famous and by inspiring people to think about the role they can play in doing good in the world."
With real estate being a largely male-dominated industry, Stephanie Shojaee, vice president and chief marketing officer at development company Shoma Group, joined Cheddar News to discuss how she took on the gender gap for women to achieve leadership roles, starting at her own company. “It's been very important to teach all the women that work here, especially the younger ones, that they shouldn't change themselves," she said. "You need to be happy with who you are and just keep breaking barriers."
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
The victims from the USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal continue to seek justice. Survivors of Larry Nassar are seeking more than one-billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop the convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations. According to a report released by the Justice Department's Inspector General, FBI agents knew
in July of 2015 that Nassar was accused of abusing gymnasts; however, Nassar wasn't arrested until December of 2016. The group that filed the claim includes Olympic medalist Simone Biles and around 90 other women. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tattoo artist Katrina "Kat Tat" Jackson, famous for starring in the VH1 hit series "Black Ink Crew: Chicago," is also the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills. She joined Cheddar News to discuss her trailblazing work, the stigma BIPOC tattoo artists face in the industry, and the way the space has changed for artists of color since her start. "In the beginning, I remember walking into a tattoo shop just like, hey, I wanna learn, I wanna be a tattoo artist and kind of just being laughed at, not taken seriously," she said. "Even with the tattoo conventions, a lot of African American tattoo artists were almost scared to go to conventions because it's not a welcoming environment."
