www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY April 5, 2020 4
Fernandez donates supplies to Jacobi
Independent pharmacy owners working around the clock
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Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez and Assemblyman Michael Blake deliver
supplies to Jacobi. Photo courtesy Offi ce of Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez
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MEMBER:
BY JASON COHEN
After quarantining herself
for two weeks, Assemblywoman
Nathalia Fernandez returned to
the community on Monday as
she donated supplies to Jacobi
Hospital.
On March 30, Fernandez,
Assemblyman Michael Blake
and SUNYY EOC gave masks,
gowns, gloves and goggles to
medical staff at Jacobi.
“Our frontline workers are
putting their lives on the line
so that they can help our most
vulnerable patients,” Fernandez
said. “I am so glad that I was
able to team up with the SUNY
Bronx EOC to provide these resources
to the staff, understanding
just how limited the supply
is and how necessary it is
to have these protective gears.
This protective equipment is
the little bit that we can do for
our healthcare workers to give
them some safety during this
pandemic.”
Fernandez said she has never
experienced anything like this.
While she did not have the coronavirus,
she was near someone
who did, so stayed home as a
precaution.
In Albany, waiting to vote for
the budget, she chatted with the
Bronx Times about the coronavirus
and how it has changed
everything.
As she looks out on the streets
of the Boogie Down, she feels
like she is in the Twilight Zone.
The abandoned stores and empty
streets are scary, she said.
According to Fernandez, the
same stress residents are feeling
is affecting her and her staff
as well.
“It’s really an everyday type
of battle,” she said. “There is
anxiety I know that I’ve felt.”
She recalled how Hurricane
Sandy destroyed businesses, but
after a week or so people were
back at work and school. However,
no one knows when things
will be normal again with this
pandemic.
“I always try to be very positive,”
she said. “I feel like that’s
jumped in the last two weeks.
They communities are coming
to elected offi cials as a source of
information.”
Her constituents have called
her with a litany of issues. Some
of the concerns have been mental
health, technology, food,
jobs, money and living too close
to people in a shelter.
As millions of kids are learning
virtually, likely for the foreseeable
future, many are without
computers and internet
access. Fernandez stressed this
should not be the case and the
DOE and schools need to make
sure every child has a device
and Wi-Fi.
“I think the immediate roll
(of virtual learning) out was
not sharp,” she remarked. “It
COVID-19 smacked us with the
hard reality that we were not
prepared.”
Many people are stuck at
home because they lost their
jobs or are working remotely.
This isolation can lead to poor
mental health, she said.
“Anxiety is up and depression
is growing,” she commented.
She noted that the fear of suicide
during this time is increasing.
While Governor Andrew
Cuomo declared no evictions
for 90 days, she is still worried
about people losing homes.
Some landlords have reached
out to her saying they still need
the money because they have to
pay people.
“In my opinion, I say we cancel
all payments and bills,” the
assemblywoman said.
BY JASON COHEN
While people are working
from home, laid off or furloughed,
many were deemed essential
and are required to say
on the job.
One of those is Roger Paganelli,
who is a third generation
pharmacist and owns Mt.
Carmel Pharmacy, 705 East
187th with his two brothers Michael
and Armando. Since the
COVID-19 crisis began, pharmacies
are making special accommodations
to deal with this
escalating situation, including:
Offering curbside prescription
pickup so patients don’t
have to get out of their cars.
Waiving prescription delivery
fees.
Offering pill packaging (individually
packaging each day’s
medications for patients) for patients
whose caretakers can’t
be in contact with them.
“It’s been challenging for
us,” Paganelli said. “I don’t
think anyone could have anticipated
what we’re experiencing
here.”
His grandfather, Armando
owned a pharmacy at 151 and
Morris and his father followed
in his footsteps when he opened
Mt. Carmel in 1964. In 1991, Paganelli
and his brothers purchased
it from him.
Paganelli, 56, explained that
typically their business is prescriptions,
but with so many
stores shuttered, people are
buying basic things like batteries
and baby oil.
“People are coming in here
for everything,” he said.
In order to keep his customers
and staff safe and healthy,
they have instituted new protocols.
The store is wiped down
hourly, all staff and customers
must wear gloves and masks,
there is signage on the front of
the store, there is a kiosk outside
where people can pick up
and order medicine, and the
hours changed from 8:30 a.m. to
8 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“My staff and I took every bit
of guidance from the governor,
mayor and CDC from day one,”
Paganelli said. “We felt it was
important to limit the exposure
of the customers and workers.”
He acknowledged that it is
a big risk being open. He is on
the board of the Pharmacists
Society of NY and has been in
constant contact with fellow
pharmacists.
“It’s a decision that we made,
but we didn’t make or take
lightly,” he explained. “We’ve
heard the good, the bad and the
ugly from our colleagues.”
In his near 30 years in the
business, he has witnessed
Hurricane Sandy, the recession
and 9/11, but none are comparable
to the coronavirus.
“Seeing people walk around
wearing masks and gloves and
dying at a unconscionable rate
is unheard of,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen
anything like this,” he stated.
“9/11 had a catastrophic impact.
It changed the world as
we know it.”
Looking to the future, he
recognizes some businesses
may never recover from being
closed for a few months.
“This is something that is
incredibly scary,” Paganelli
said.
Roger Paganelli, owner of Mt. Carmel
Pharmac.Photo courtesy Alabastro
Photography.
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