Governor Cuomo’s 5-Step Plan to Battle the COVID-19 Surge in New York
January 13, 2021 in Blog
In early December, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a comprehensive five-step plan in an attempt to mitigate the effects of a COVID-19 surge this winter. Here, the personal injury attorneys at Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas & Cannavo P.C. outline Governor Cuomo’s five strategies for softening the blow of another surge.
Strategy 1: Continue and Strengthen New York’s Targeted Micro-Cluster Strategy while Managing Hospital Capacity to Enhance and Equalize Care
The first step in Governor Cuomo’s five-step pandemic surge response strategy is to increase emergency hospital measures to ensure the state’s hospital system is prepared for the surge. Example measures include enacting hospital systems to identify both retired nurses and doctors as additions to current staff, balance patient loads across individual hospital facilities, use emergency field hospitals, increase bed capacity by 50% and more. These are just a few of several measures Governor Cuomo outlined in the first strategy of his five-step plan. Click here to view the list of measures in full.
Strategy 2: Increase and Balance Testing Resources and Availability
Governor Cuomo is also seeking to enact a plan to increase the number of testing centers and resources that are available to the public, while ensuring balanced and sufficient testing among population segments including healthcare workers, nursing homes, schools, essential workers, business professionals, personal services testing, the general population, returning students, travelers and more.
Strategy 3: Keep Schools Open Safely
It has been a controversial topic among parents, teachers, administrators, students and government officials whether or not schools should remain open. As a strategy under his five-step plan, Governor Cuomo is focusing on keeping K-8 and special education schools open safely by establishing ongoing testing in schools for select percentages of students and faculty. Click here to learn more about Governor Cuomo’s safety measures to keep schools open safely here.
Strategy 4: Prevent Viral Spread from Small Gatherings
It is estimated that 65% of all COVID-19 cases derive from small gatherings, which is why Governor Cuomo’s fourth strategy is to prevent the viral spread from small gatherings. New York, among other states, has implemented gathering limits of less than 10 people, which are urged especially during holidays where social gatherings are more expected. Click here to learn more about Governor Cuomo’s fourth strategy focused on preventing a COVID-19 spread from gatherings.
Strategy 5: Operationalize an Equitable and Safe Vaccination Program
As COVID-19 vaccines have been released and are already being distributed to populations such as healthcare professionals and government workers, Governor Cuomo has made it his fifth and final priority to ensure safe and equitable distribution of the vaccine. According to this press release announcing Governor Cuomo’s five-step plan, the New York vaccination distribution strategy will be operated under three main pillars: fairness, equity, and safety. According to the press release, “These pillars, as well as outreach to the Black and Brown communities with poor health outcomes who have been hit hardest by the pandemic, are critical to ensuring a fair distribution of the vaccine.” To learn more about Governor Cuomo’s fifth strategy to combat a COVID-19 surge, click here.
Get in Touch with the Skilled New York Attorneys at Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas & Cannavo P.C.
The experienced personal injury attorneys at SPBMCC have been closely monitoring trends in the COVID-19 pandemic and how these trends affect the population on a medical and legal level. We have been following Governor Cuomo’s executive orders and disaster emergency measures as they are enacted in order to stay up-to-date and best serve our clients in this new normal. To contact a member of our New York personal injury firm, call (212)-732-9000 or contact us here today.
Content in this article was derived from Governor Cuomo’s 5-Step Winter Plan published on Governor.NY.gov. To read the original article, click here.