April 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City will offer 11,000 free hotel rooms to New Yorkers who live in overcrowded households in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio said today. The initiative, which begins next Wednesday, is targeted toward hard-hit communities where many impoverished families live in… Read more »
April 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin All New Yorkers must wear a mask or face covering while in public spaces where social distancing isn’t possible, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today. Cuomo will sign an executive order today to mandate the face covering requirement in places across the state where people aren’t able to keep six… Read more »
April 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City grocery stores should require customers to wear a face covering or mask while shopping amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said today. “I’m giving the guidance to all supermarkets and groceries — require customers, require customers to wear face coverings when they come… Read more »
April 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin The Health Department has added nearly 4,000 new names to the Coronavirus death count– taking the number of people killed by COVID-19 in New York City to well over 10,000. The massive jump was the result of the DOH adding approximately 3,700 people to the list– people whose cause… Read more »
April 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City is continuing to flatten the COVID-19 curve, although it suffered a setback over the weekend with the number of coronavirus patients in the ICU going up, Mayor Bill de Blasio said today. The number of people in the ICU at the city’s public hospitals for coronavirus… Read more »
April 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin New York City will begin making its own coronavirus test kits, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today. The City’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) will create a supply chain through New York City-based companies to create the tests and will also buy tests from an Indiana-based firm to reach 100,000… Read more »
March 31, 2020 By Allie Griffin The Queens Borough President special election finally has a set date — June 23, 2020. The election, which was originally slated for March 24, was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but wasn’t given a new date until yesterday when Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order. June 23… Read more »
March 30, 2020 By Allie Griffin Queens District Attorney and former Borough President Melinda Katz has tested positive for coronavirus. Katz learned she had been exposed to someone who had the virus on March 21 and soon got tested. Her test results came back Saturday, confirming she was positive for COVID-19, Politico reported. Most of… Read more »
March 27, 2020 By Allie Griffin Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling for a 100,000-square-foot temporary hospital to be built at the site of Queens Aqueduct Racetrack. The governor is working to increase hospital capacity as the number of cases of coronavirus continues to increase across the state. There are now more than 44,000 cases statewide,… Read more »
March 26, 2020 By Allie Griffin Queens Council Member Francisco Moya sent a desperate plea to President Donald Trump today asking the federal government to send more resources to Elmhurst Hospital. The hospital saw 13 patients die of coronavirus in a 24-hour period on Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic has hit Queens the hardest in… Read more »