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Every hospital in Queens became overwhelmed with COVID- patients.
TO HELL AND BACK
Queens perseveres through COVID-19 pandemic
What few travelers that were flying
into LaGuardia Airport this spring were
able to catch a glimpse of a haunting mural
painted onto a parking lot in Flushing
The massive portrait is of 70-year-old
Dr. Ydelfonso Decoo, who died of COVID
19 after he volunteered to fight on
the frontlines in the battle against the
worldwide pandemic that turned Queens
into the “epicenter of the epicenter,” especially
in the neighborhoods just west of
It was March 7 when Gov. Andrew
Cuomo declared a state of emergency
and state Senator James Sanders reported
that the first coronavirus patient
in Queens was in isolation at Far Rockaway’s
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital.
Two days later, Mayor Bill de Blasio
warned that “community spread” was the
biggest threat and urged New Yorkers to
avoid congested spaces such as subways
and buses.
In rapid succession, St. John’s University
moved all academic instruction
to online learning and in Richmond Hill,
organizers postponed the 32nd annual
Phagwah Parade as Queens Public Library
canceled all programs, events and
classes and de Basio postponed the special
election for Queens borough president.
De Blasio also ordered restaurants
and bars to close voluntarily and Cuomo
ordered all schools to close statewide on
March 18. By March 20, Cuomo implemented
a “stay-at-home” executive order
for all non-essential workers and the
streets of Queens fell silent except for the
sounds on ambulance sirens that would
reach a crescendo on March 23 when Elmhurst
Hospital Center was overwhelmed
with seriously ill coronavirus patients
with 13 dying in a 24 hour period.
An NYC Health + Hospitals spokesman
said, “Elmhurst is the center of the
crisis, and it’s the number one priority of
our public hospital system right now.”
As much-needed medical supplies and
personnel were rushed to the overburdened
hospital, Acting Queens Borough
President Sharon Lee said, “Frontline
workers and medical professionals are
moving mountains around the clock with
extraordinary acts of heroism, using all
tools and resources available to save each
and every life.”
But the pandemic was relentless in
the neighborhoods that surrounded the
hospital, paramedics pulling dead bodies
out of the small homes and apartments
in Corona, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst.
On Tuesday, March 31, the city’s Department
of Health released data that
confirmed these neighborhoods led the
five boroughs where a majority of people
tested for COVID-19 showed positive results
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and a number of southeast Queens
neighborhoods were not far behind.
Other Queens hospitals became overwhelmed.
“This morning when I left the house
I said goodbye to my wife and daughter
for who knows how long it’s going to be,
several weeks probably, before I see them
again,” Dr. Matthew Bai of Mount Sinai
Queens said at the time.
For the city’s EMS personnel, who
received more than 7,000 calls a day, the
onslaught became historic.
“This is like 9/11 happening every
single day, with a bit of Hurricane Sandy
thrown in,” said Lt. Vinny Variale, a 25-
year FDNY veteran and president of the
Uniformed EMS Officers Union.
He estimated that 25 percent of the
department’s paramedics were out sick,
many with COVID-19, and many of the
rest chose to sleep in their cars between
shifts to avoid infecting their families.
By April 8, Queens had 1,136 dead
and more than 26,000 infected and just a
week later the borough had 2,100 deaths
related to COVID-19 and more than
33,000 infected.
“None of us could have imagined
what we’re seeing,” Elmhurst Hospital
Emergency Director Dr. Stuart Kessler
said. “I still sometimes have a hard time
getting my head around the fact of what
we’re seeing today.”
Meanwhile, the Queens economy
was devastated as well with too few of
its small businesses failing to qualify for
the federal bailout funding known as the
Payroll Protection Program and Queens
Chamber of Commerce President Tom
Grech warned that half of the borough’s
FDNY EMS said the toughest days of the
pandemic were ten times worse than
9/11.
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restaurants and bars may never reopen.
Popular eateries such as Woodhaven
House in Rego Park, Irish Cottage in
Forest Hills, and Dutch KIlls Centraal in
Long Island City closed down for good.
Relief arrived in late June when the
city allowed restaurants to open for outdoor
a serious setback in July when young
people crowded Steinway Street in Astoria
masks and social distancing leading the
governor to announce a crackdown on
businesses not complying with protocols.
“Don’t be stupid,” Cuomo said. “What
they’re doing is stupid and reckless for
themselves and for other people, and it
has to stop.” Cuomo later announced that
indoor dining would return Sept. 30 operating
not indicated if and when pubs could reopen.
The reopening of the city’s public
school system did not take place on
Sept.10 and it was postponed twice this
month angering teachers and parents
alike. The de Blasio administration
blamed ventilation problems and other
safety concerns.
Elementary school students will return
to school on Sept. 29 with middle
school and high school students returning
Oct. 1.
The COVID-19 shutdown has left the
city’s economy in shambles. A $9 billion
budget deficit has already led to drastic
cutbacks in city services and without
federal aid, de Basio has warned that
22,000 city workers will need to be laid
off to compensate. Many will be from the
ranks of the very same EMS and frontline
through the darkest days of March and
April when the borough became the epicenter
As large portions of the nation continue
to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic,
through the worst of times. Still, medical
professionals warn that a second wave of
COVID-19 could be exacerbated by the fall
flu season.
Queens residents have continued to
practice social distancing and “mask-up”
as a matter of course — if a second wave
does appear, the next epicenter is likely to
be elsewhere.
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Meadows Corona Park.
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at just 25 percent capacity. He has
medical workers that saw Queens
of the epicenter.
Queens appears to have made it
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