There are two things I like. It’s a good conversation with someone that knows what they are talking about and a good challenge. Physical challenges are beyond for now, but there is still the challenge of the mind.
Governor Cuomo Covid-19 And The Timeline Challenge
In a recent conversation with a friend, she “suggested” that I check the timeline on Governor Cuomo’s handling of Covid-19. We each stated our position and facts as we saw them. Having reached an impasse we went on to other things. Later on, I decided to do some investigation and see what the timeline would show.
Governor Cuomo Delayed Calling Up The National Guard
Stated: Governor Cuomo waited until after the Army Corp of Engineers arrived before calling out the National Guard. This delay resulted in more deaths than would have happened if Cuomo acted sooner.
USNS Comfort
The failure to fully use the services of the USNS Comfort. This questions whether New York needed the Comfort to be here. There is also the question of the speed at which the Comfort arrived in New York. The deployment of military ships cannot be researched. It’s that whole classified thing. Nonetheless, the timeline does address the main point.
Links to the articles used to establish the timeline furnished for verification purposes.
COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
Note: The first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. state of New York during the pandemic was confirmed on March 1, 2020[2] As of May 30, 2020, there have been 2 million tests, 369,700 confirmed cases (an increase of 1,400 from the day before), and 23,848 deaths.
TimeLine
March 3, 2020
First Case of COVID-19 in NYC, First Death Reported in Washington State
Published March 3, 2020
Excerpt: The first case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a result of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was confirmed in New York City by Governor Andrew M Cuomo, on Sunday, March 1, 2020.
Excerpt: The patient, a woman aged 39 years, was a healthcare worker and is believed to have contracted the infection while traveling in Iran. She returned from Iran a week before diagnosis with COVID-19 and began experiencing respiratory symptoms. The patient presented to an undisclosed hospital in New York City during which she was evaluated and provided a sputum sample, which was tested in a laboratory in Albany, NY. Although this test confirmed that the patient had SARS-CoV-2, the results will be reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.
March 3, 2020
By Jennifer Millman • Published March 3, 2020 • Updated on March 4, 2020, at 11:14 am
An attorney who lives in Westchester County and works in midtown Manhattan is New York state’s second confirmed coronavirus case — and the first apparent instance of community spread, the governor said Tuesday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said an initial review of the 50-year-old man’s travels doesn’t suggest any travel to China or other countries at the nexus of the outbreak, so authorities are treating it as a case of person-to-person spread.
March 10, 2020
PUBLISHED TUE, MAR 10 202012:36 PM EDT UPDATED TUE, MAR 10 20204:26 PM EDT
March 15, 2020
The time is growing short and fewer options are available. Using federal troops to help create hospital beds is one we should try.
By Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/andrew-cuomo-coronavirus-trump.html
March 17, 2020
Feds will deploy Army Corps of Engineers to NY first, Mark Esper says
March 17, 2020 | 7:35pm
https://nypost.com/2020/03/17/feds-will-deploy-army-corps-of-engineers-to-ny-first-mark-esper-says/
Defense Secretary Mark Esper in a Tuesday phone call with Gov. Andrew Cuomo pledged to deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to New York the “soonest” to help combat the coronavirus crisis.
March 18, 2020, at 11:59 pm Filed Under Andrew, Carolyn Gusoff, Coronavirus, jones beach, Local TV, Long Island, New York
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/03/18/coronavirus-new-york-state/
Cuomo said the Army Corps of Engineers is being sent to New York Wednesday afternoon to look at construction of hospitals and mobile hospital sites amid the growing coronavirus pandemic. The mobile hospitals have a capacity of 200-250 people, Cuomo said.
Note: The Army Corp Of Engineers arrived in New York this day.
03.24.2020 04:38 PM
(This Article Is No Longer Available.)
The US is desperate for hospital beds. The US Army Corps of Engineers can build thousands of them in a matter of days.
Wired.com BRIAN BARRETT SECURITY
Note: The Army Corps Of Engineers scout the Javits Center as they prepare to convert it to accept Covid-19 patients.
March 30, 2020
USNS Comfort arrives in New York City
By ERIN DURKIN 03/30/2020 12:36 PM EDT
Note April 1, 2020: The Comfort’s mission is to accept coronavirus free patients only. Cuomo would request a change in mission protocol before the Comfort would admit Covid-19 patients. On April 6 permission granted for the Comfort to accept Covid-19 patients. Later that day a crewmember tested positive for coronavirus.
April 2, 2020
The Comforts First Mission did not include Covid-19 Patients
The 1,000-Bed Comfort Was Supposed to Aid New York. It Has 20 Patients.
NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/ny-coronavirus-usns-comfort.html
Excerpt 1: The Comfort was sent to New York to relieve pressure on city hospitals by treating people with ailments other than Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
Excerpt 2: On top of its strict rules preventing people infected with the virus from coming on board, the Navy is also refusing to treat a host of other conditions. Guidelines disseminated to hospitals included a list of 49 medical conditions that would exclude a patient from admittance to the ship.
Ambulances cannot take patients directly to the Comfort; they must first deliver patients to a city hospital for a lengthy evaluation — including a test for the virus — and then pick them up again for transport to the ship.
April 3, 2020
Cuomo signs executive order to deploy National Guard to round up unused ventilators, PPE
Published April 3
https://www.foxnews.com/us/cuomo-executive-order-coronavirus-national-guard-ventilators
April 7, 2020
USNS Comfort Approved to Take COVID-19 Patients as Crew Member Tests Positive
Published April 7, 2020, • Updated on April 7, 2020, at 8:25 am
A spokesperson for the U.S. Navy said the crew member’s diagnosis will not alter the ship’s plan to treat coronavirus patients
End Of Timeline
Governor’s Cuomo’s Performance
Governor Cuomo called up the National Guard five (5) days before the White House authorized their deployment. Seven (7) days before Mark Esper confirmed the corps would be deployed. And 8 days before the corps would take its first look at the Javits Center. So, there is no question that Governor Cuomo on his own activated the National Guard. It was only through his conversations with the White House was the Army Corps Of Engineers deployed. Considering the magnitude of the crisis you would think that the feds would have acted on their own to activate the corps. Hmmm….
To read more about a governor’s ability to call up the National Guard Click Here
USNS Comfort
The Facts: The USNS Comfort was not built to handle infectious diseases. The crew needed to adapt to this situation. The Comfort was built to handle wartime injuries such as gunshots, etc. Like New York and other states, the crew of the Comfort adapted as needed.
To underutilize something you have to have access for use.
New York used this ship to the best of its ability to treat patients. But New York had to wait until the ship was ready to accept Covid-19 before the use began.
- ∗By the time the Comfort arrived New York had 52,318 cases and 728 deceased New Yorkers.
- The ship’s primary function was not to treat Covid-19 patients. Cuomo petitions the White House to change the Comfort’s Mission. New York hospitals continue the fight.
- The Comfort takes on a new mission, the conversion would take some time. In the meantime, New York hospital continues to fight the virus.
- Comfort’s first patient is one of its own.
- New York hospitals begin sending patients to the ship
∗Cuomo: 52,318 coronavirus cases in NY; 728 dead
Published March 28 https://www.fox5ny.com/news/cuomo-52318-coronavirus-cases-in-ny-728-dead
Read more about The Comfort click here.
Final Thoughts
Overestimating is far better than underestimating
Another point that came up in our discussion was the request for PPE and other items. Maybe I have this wrong but I choose to overestimate than underestimate. If you underestimate you may not be able to compensate for it. Whereas, if you overestimate you have a surplus that you can return or repurpose.
In the case of a deadly virus, it is better to ask for more than less. Had Governor Cuomo underestimated need and then later discovered that he was wrong there would be no way to make it right. Underestimating would have meant more sick and dead New Yorkers.
As someone living in the epicenter of this terror, I am glad we prepared for the worse. And that New York was ready to go all in. But that scenario did not materialize. And at least for now, we have broken the back of the virus.
Comments, Questions, Suggestions?
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