New York State reports COVID-related illness in children

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo over the weekend announced New York State is notifying 49 other states across the country of emerging cases of COVID-related illness in children. The State is currently investigating 85 reported cases in New York where children – predominantly school-aged – are experiencing symptoms similar to an atypical Kawasaki disease or a toxic shock-like syndrome possibly due to COVID-19. The illness has taken the lives of three young New Yorkers and an additional two deaths are currently under investigation.

 

Governor Cuomo also proposed the “Americans First Law” which states that a corporation cannot be eligible to receive government funding if it does not rehire the same number of employees that the corporation had before the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The Governor also announced he will issue an Executive Order mandating that all nursing homes and adult care facilities test all personnel for COVID-19 two times per week and report any positive test results to the State Department of Health by the next day. The Executive Order also mandates that hospitals cannot discharge a patient to a nursing home unless that patient tests negative for COVID-19. 

 

All nursing home and adult care facility administrators will be required to submit a plan on how they will accomplish this testing and a certificate of compliance with this Executive Order to the State Department of Health by Friday, May 15.

 

Any nursing home or adult care facility found to be in violation of the Executive Order may have its operating certificate suspended or revoked or may be subject to a penalty for non-compliance of $2,000 per violation per day. Additionally, any personnel who refuse to be tested for COVID-19 will be considered to have outdated or incomplete health assessments and therefore will be prohibited from working in the nursing home or adult care facility until testing is performed.

 

The Governor also announced that the Department of Health and Human Services is distributing a promising treatment called Remdesivir that has been shown to help patients infected with COVID-19 recover more quickly. The Department of Health and Human Services has sent New York enough antiviral to treat 2,900 people at 15 hospitals and will send more doses in the coming weeks to treat 500 more patients, including children, at additional New York Hospitals.

 

“We are learning new things about the COVID-19 virus every day, and one of the most frightening new developments has been cases of COVID-related illness in children that has already taken the lives of three young New Yorkers,” Governor Cuomo said. “The State Department of Health is alerting all 49 states across the country about this evolving situation as New York continues to investigate the illness and get the facts quickly so we can help prevent any more children from getting sick.”

 

Finally, the Governor confirmed 2,273 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 335,395 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 335,395 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows (please note that these numbers are a bit behind the local numbers being reported):

 

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	1,432	16
Allegany	36	1
Broome	373	1
Cattaraugus	60	0
Cayuga	58	5
Chautauqua	41	1
Chemung	131	0
Chenango	109	0
Clinton	76	0
Columbia	312	8
Cortland	29	0
Delaware	64	1
Dutchess	3,359	40
Erie	4,453	116
Essex	32	1
Franklin	17	0
Fulton	107	3
Genesee	172	2
Greene	206	2
Hamilton	5	0
Herkimer	79	2
Jefferson	68	1
Lewis	11	0
Livingston	102	1
Madison	251	1
Monroe	1,821	46
Montgomery	67	1
Nassau	38,217	189
Niagara	643	16
NYC	184,417	1,128
Oneida	660	22
Onondaga	1,265	47
Ontario	106	2
Orange	9,543	57
Orleans	126	4
Oswego	75	0
Otsego	67	0
Putnam	1,089	9
Rensselaer	409	2
Rockland	12,451	51
Saratoga	402	3
Schenectady	571	0
Schoharie	46	0
Schuyler	7	0
Seneca	49	1
St. Lawrence	187	0
Steuben	227	1
Suffolk	36,702	241
Sullivan	1,093	22
Tioga	105	1
Tompkins	132	0
Ulster	1,450	10
Warren	207	5
Washington	206	2
Wayne	80	1
Westchester	31,294	207
Wyoming	77	2
Yates	21	1