Briefing 4/21: Fewer Calls For Ambulances, Fewer Hospitalizations, Still Lots Of Deaths

Good morning! It’s a brand new day. Please take care of yourself and stay indoors!

• As of 2:30 p.m. yesterday, there were 2,679 new positive confirmed coronavirus cases in NYC, bringing the total to 132,467 cases in NYC. In Brooklyn, there are 35,203 cases. Remember, with an increase in testing, there will be an increase in numbers.
• The total number of hospitalizations in NYC is now 34,729, with just 127 new hospitalizations since the day before. According to the Governor this morning, the curve of hospitalizations is going down.
• As of yesterday, there were also 290 new coronavirus-related deaths in NYC, bringing the total to 9,101 confirmed deaths in NYC, with 4,582 probable deaths. In Brooklyn, the number of coronavirus-related deaths has gone up to 2,705. Each of these people was a neighbor, a friend, a parent, or someone’s child.
• Calls for ambulances in NYC have dropped more than 50% since a peak in late March, when there were more than 7,000 calls in a single day, more than on Sept. 11, 2001, the NY Times reported.
• Owners of a dry cleaner in Brooklyn are making and donating masks. They have given away more than 2,000 masks for free, ABC7 reported.
• The Wall Street Journal wrote about a vibrant street in Park Slope where businesses are struggling for survival. Have you read it yet?
• At the Cobble Hill Health Center, there have been 55 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest toll at any senior care center in NY, NBC News reported.
• New York State will deliver more than 500,000 cloth masks to public housing communities — at least one for every resident, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday. They will also deliver 10,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to public housing communities.
• Kosher meals will now be given out in NYC Public School sites, along with halal and vegetarian meals.
• This Thursday, the NYC Council will hear legislation requiring NYC to provide single adult homeless people with private rooms through the end of the pandemic and implement risk reduction protocols.
• The stimulus checks that New Yorkers receive will be protected from debt collectors, Attorney General Tish James announced.
• The Payment Protection Program (PPP) fails to help Brooklyn businesses, we reported yesterday.
• A $20 million fund will assist 20,000 immigrant workers and their families with direct, one-time emergency relief, the Mayor announced.
• A group of 28 artists in Gowanus is looking for a new space amid the pandemic, we reported.
• One Brooklyn neighbor has been making masks… out of recycled bedsheets!