Travelers move through the boarding area for trains during the Thanksgiving holiday travel rush at Pennsylvania
Station in New York, U.S., November 27, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Cuomo adopts NYS travel policies
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,54 NOVVEMBER 6-12, 2020 BTR
Tribute to health
care history
BY LINCOLN HOSPITAL
On Oct. 21, Lincoln Hospital
hosted an important
event and book signing for
Hispanic Heritage Month,
focusing on its diverse and
unique history and its impact
on modern health care.
In 1839 in anticipation
of the end of slavery in NYS
and the need for elderly former
slaves and freemen to
have a place to live, a Home
for the Colored Aged began
as civic responsibility taken
on by a societal group. As
the needs of its community
grew from a Home (four cholera
outbreaks, the aging of
the Home’s residents, and injured
Black citizens during
Draft Riots during the civil
war) in 1863 it became the
Colored Home and Hospital.
In the 1900s before and after
WWll, the infl ux of southerners
escaping to the north,
America saw civil rights momentum
and successes, fueled
by daily TV news. The
late 1960s infl ux of 100,000
people from Puerto Rico to
crowded housing in NYC,
the growth of unfavorable
environmental conditions
led to an infamous “takeover”
of Lincoln Hospital
(who served all of them) by
the Young Lords in July 1970.
This controversial former
gang, became more a human
rights organization “fi ghting
for neighborhood empowerment”
in the South Bronx,
canvassing, advocating for
and creating community programs
for this hospital.
The Young Lords stepped
in and stepped up to draw attention
to the great injustice
and inequities of the health
care system in the south
Bronx, which they saw as different
from care in other facilities.
They demanded civic
responsibility for Lincoln
Hospital from its NYC owners
and even with confrontation,
set a path that the facility
would remain the safety
net for its new communities
which were Spanish speaking,
poor, the elderly and
fi rst-generation Americans.
The historical impact of
the major actions set in motion
by the Young Lords,
set higher standards for
health care that remain in
place around the world today:
The Patient Bill of
Rights, The Patient’s Right
to Grieve and The Patient’s
Right to be understood in
their own language (called
interpretive services).
Johanna Fernandez,
PhD, author of the book
“The Young Lords: A Radical
History” chronicled the
timeframe, important activities
and clinical committees
that expanded Lincoln Hospital
services, partnerships
with the Lincoln Collective
(the medical Residents of
Lincoln), Black Panthers,
community advocates and
the press. Fernandez made
a powerful, defi nitive presentation
and autographed
her book.
In the Lincoln Hospital auditorium, Marlene Cintron, (left) an original
Young Lord and CEO of Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp, Bronx
Empowerment Zone; another original Young Lord Mickey Melendez; (on
screen with clenched fi st) and attending by Zoom is Charlotte Phillips-
Fein, MD, member of the Lincoln Collective, the medical residents advocating
for change with the Young Lords at the time; Johanna Fernandez, PhD,
author of the book ‘The Young Lords: A Radical History’; and Bala
Kanna, MD, Chief Operating Offi cer of NYC Health Hospitals/Lincoln and
spearheading this event, is holding her book, ‘The Young Lords: A
Radical History’ Photo by Linda Morales/Lincoln
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Almost every state in the
Union is now on New York’s
travel quarantine list because
of yet another resurgence of
COVID-19 in America — and
Governor Andrew Cuomo
said Saturday the state is
adopting a new strategy to
prevent the spread here.
The change comes with
the approach of Thanksgiving,
and the anticipation that
thousands of New Yorkers
will travel out-of-state to visit
families and friends. Cuomo
expressed concern that those
travelers will inadvertently
bring COVID-19 back with
them upon their return to
New York, and cause a surge
of cases here.
“People are going to travel
for Thanksgiving. We’re having
issues with small gatherings,
which is almost a psychological
issue,” Cuomo
told reporters during an Oct.
31 conference call. “People
think they are safe if they are
with people they know. Just
because they’re your family
doesn’t mean they’re safe from
COVID. Your family may be
safe, but they’re not safe from
COVID, and that’s where we’re
seeing increases.”
New York currently has
the third-lowest infection
rate in the United States, with
only Maine and Vermont having
fewer COVID-19 cases.
The previous quarantine
plan — which required outof
state travelers to quarantine
for up to two weeks upon
arriving in New York — had
become a moot point, Cuomo
said Saturday. The rapid increase
in COVID-19 cases
across the country in recent
weeks had resulted in almost
every state qualifying for
the list.
Under the new plan that
Cuomo outlined, all travelers
coming into New York from
out of state — and all travelers
who return to New York from
an out-of-state visit of longer
than 24 hours — will need
to get a COVID-19 test three
days before arriving in New
York and have proof that they
test negative.
Upon arriving in New
York, the travelers will have
to quarantine for three days,
then take a COVID-19 test on
the fourth day. The quarantine
ends for travelers who test
negative for COVID-19 on the
fourth day; anyone who tests
positive will need to remain in
quarantine for up to 14 days.
“You will have had a test
within three days of arrival,
and a test four days after arrival
that says your negative.
That’s a week,” Cuomo said.
“Basically, by all probability,
that’s the incubation period.”
COVID-19’s incubation period
can run anywhere between
two and fi ve days before
symptoms develop, according
to the Centers for Disease
Control. Some cases have been
known to develop within two
weeks of exposure.
Anyone who is leaving New
York for an out-of-state visit of
less than 24 hours, the governor
explained, will not need to
get a COVID-19 test before returning.
They will, however,
be required to quarantine for
four days after arriving back,
and then get a COVID-19 test
— with a negative result ending
the quarantine.
Local health departments
and authorities stationed at
the state’s airports will be
tasked with enforcing the new
policy, the governor added.
The policy does not apply for
any travelers visiting states
“contiguous” to New York —
including New Jersey, Connecticut,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts
and Vermont.
The governor also reported
that New York continues to see
progress in battling COVID-19
cases in micro-cluster red and
orange zones, including areas
of Brooklyn and Queens.
The COVID-19 positivity rate
in these areas on Oct. 30 was
down to 3%.
“Anecdotally, the hospitals
and health care agencies suggest
they are seeing a positive
shift in those micro-cluster
zones,” Cuomo said, referring
to a decrease in severe cases
in these areas. “The numbers
say it, but the anecdotal evidence
also says it. I believe
we got their attention in the
red zones, and they increased
enforcement, and restrictions
got their attention.”
Cuomo again suggested
that the state would continue
its micro-cluster response approach
to battling COVID-19
if and when cases increase
in hot spots during the fall
and winter.
Over 136,000 test results
were reported on Oct. 30, with
the statewide positivity rate —
including the micro-clusters
— at 1.49%. Approximately
1,121 people were hospitalized
with COVID-19 symptoms,
with 248 in intensive care and
122 on intubation.
Eight New Yorkers died of
the illness Friday.
Read more at bxtimes.com.
/bxtimes.com