Briefing 4/3: Social Distancing Rules Violated, Wear Face Coverings, Free Meals For Adults

The City’s Department of Education has expanded its free meals program to include adults. (Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Good morning! It’s a new day, which means we have new coronavirus numbers.

As of 9:30 a.m., the total number of positive cases is 52,948 in NYC. In Brooklyn, the number has gone up to 14,420. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in the City is 1,584. In Brooklyn, that number is now 388. Keep staying at home!
Dozens of men crowded a Boro Park street (Avenue N and E. 9th St.) for a funeral and violated social distancing rules. The funeral was for a 101-year-old rabbi, the Daily News reported.
Comptroller Scott Stringer’s mother, Arlene Stringer-Cuevas, 86, has died because of the coronavirus. She was an accomplished woman; in fact, she was the first woman to represent Washington Heights in the City Council. Stringer described her as “loving and compassionate, a dedicated grandmother and wife, and a generous friend who was a caring rock of support for those lucky enough to know her.”
The NRA sues NY for calling gun stores “non-essential,” the Post reported.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is advising all New Yorkers to wear masks when they leave the house or when they are in close contact with people. The face-covering can be a homemade mask, a bandana, or another piece of clothing. The surgical masks should be left for healthcare workers, AB7 reported.
The 192,000 N95 respirators, 130,000 surgical masks, and nearly 600,000 medical-grade gloves, that were seized this week from a Boro Park man, will be going directly to medical workers in New York and New Jersey, the Times reported.
The Javits Center is now accepting coronavirus patients. According to NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, “This will make it so that hospitals can discharge the patients who have recovered enough to no longer require acute care.”
Mario Salerno, a Brooklyn landlord who has 18 apartment buildings, canceled rent for 100s of tenants, the Times reported.
NYC will now offer three free grab-and-go meals for adults at locations that are already serving meals every day for students. To find the location nearest you, text FOOD to 877-877.
Three men charged with the 2011 murder of Brooklyn cafe owner Joshua Rubin, the Daily News reported.
Sandra Santos-Vizcaino, an elementary school teacher at P.S.9, described as an “amazing hugger,” and who pushed to make sure her students always had interesting books to read, died from coronavirus complications.
Parishes across Brooklyn and Queens will toll their bells today to unite all faiths and nationalities in hope, prayer, and remembrance of those who have passed, we reported.
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Yesterday, we wrote about how Muslims and Jews struggle to observe burial traditions as loved ones die in the pandemic. In both faiths, the funeral has to happen hours after death. Have you read it yet?