3 BRONX WEEKLY May 3, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
Almost a quarter of NYC residents test positive
BY MARK HALLUM
for COVID-19 antibodies: Cuomo
Governor Andrew Cuomo
expanded on preliminary results
to a statewide COVID-19
antibody tested program that
has found that 24.7% of New
York City residents had the virus
at some point in the course
of the pandemic.
The Monday announcement
was a follow-up to last week’s
update that said about 21% of
city dwellers had antibodies
out of statewide pool of about
3,000. These, however, were
only preliminary results, according
to the governor.
The new pool consists of
7,500 New Yorkers from Buffalo
to Montauk with men being
more likely than women
to be infected; 16.9% for males
and 13.1% for females, according
to Cuomo. That is with
women consisting of 52 percent
of the testing sample.
“Testing tells you where we
are, right? And whether the infection
rate is going up or going
down,” Cuomo said. “7,500 is
a very significant number and
it gives us a snapshot of where
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol.
(Mike Groll/Offi ce of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
we are. It’s just a snapshot…
but if you look at the different
pictures and you have a movie
at one point and you can track
what is happening.”
Compare these results to the
“rest of state,” which consists
of 35.9% of New Yorkers in the
study, to New York City, consisting
of 43% of the study, the percentage
of those living upstate
who tested positive was 3.2%.
On Sunday, Cuomo said New
York could begin to un-PAUSE
in two phases starting May 15.
This came after the Centers
for Disease Control advised
governments that they could
begin reopening after a 14-day
decrease in hospitalizations, to
which the Cuomo administration
devised a two-phase plan.
The first phase would mean
bringing construction and
manufacturing activities with
low risk to come back online,
and after a two week period
of monitoring infection rates,
grant businesses the opportunity
to decide for themselves
whether or not to ease back
into operations.
Whether or not businesses
should reopen should be assessed
on two planes, Cuomo
said Sunday: “How essential a
service does that business provide
and how risky is that business.”
As of Monday, 17,303 New
Yorkers statewide have died
from coronavirus including
337 since yesterday alone. But
the numbers continue on the
downward trend.
This story first appeared on
amNY.com
Essen Health Care expands COVID-19 care program for the Bronx
BY JASON COHEN
The largest privately
owned multispecialty medical
network in the Bronx
has expanded its COVID-19
treatment.
On April 23, Essen
Health Care launched a
care program to offer testing
services, telehealth
monitoring of symptomatic
patients that have been
quarantined and return-towork
occupational health
services for the entire borough.
According to New York
City’s Department of Health,
the Bronx currently has the
highest per capita rate of
positive COVID-19 cases in
all of the fi ve boroughs, at
over 2,000 confi rmed cases
per 100,000 people. The
Bronx has some of the most
vulnerable populations due
to high prevalence of highrisk
underlying conditions,
such as asthma and diabetes,
as well as limited access
to care, but also a high
proportion of essential
workers.
“Our fi rst dedicated
COVID-19 screening centers
opened over a month
ago and we’ve been screening
an average of 200 patients
per day, limited only
by our access to test kits,”
noted Essen Health Care’s
Founder and Chief Medical
Offi cer, Dr. Sumir Sahgal.
“In parallel we’ve added
telehealth services to monitor
and support COVID-19
patients at home to ensure
appropriate use of emergency
room and hospital
services and we’re now
ready to expand our services.”
The Essen Health Care
COVID-19 care program
consists of:
Our locations rotate, patients
must call or go online
to schedule an appointment.
Monitoring and support
for individuals under quarantine,
using telephone and
video to assess, advise, order
tests and medications
and escalate care as medically
necessary, especially
for those with underlying
conditions such as heart
disease, lung disease, diabetes
and other conditions;
An expanded occupational
health program to offer
employment clearance
services to employees and
employers to help people in
essential services get back
to work.
To schedule an appointment
with the Essen Health
Care COVID-19 care program,
call the Essen Patient
Care Center 718-638-7682 or
go to www.essenhealthcare.
com/covid-19. The website
and call center are available
for anyone in the general
public, patients, employees
and employers with
any questions or concerns
regarding COVID-19.
Essen COVID testing Photo courtesy of Essen
/www.essenhealthcare
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