Governor Cuomo also confirmed 37 additional cases of novel coronavirus in New York State since his last update from Sunday, bringing the statewide total to 142 confirmed cases.
The Governor also announced the New York State Department of Health will work with the New York State Education Department to issue guidance for schools with students, teachers or other staff who test positive for novel coronavirus. Under the policy, schools will close for an initial 24-hour period if a student or a teacher or any other staff at the school test positive for the novel coronavirus. This will allow the school to undergo disinfection, and for the State to perform an assessment of the situation and make a determination going forward in that particular school district.
Additionally, the Governor will send a program bill to the legislature today to provide paid sick leave to working New Yorkers and specifically protect those who are required to stay home from work because they are being isolated or quarantined as a result of the novel coronavirus.
"As the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus continues to rise, unscrupulous retailers are exploiting New Yorkers' anxieties about the virus and charging exorbitant prices for hand sanitizer and other similar products," Governor Cuomo said. "To solve this problem, the state is producing and deploying hand sanitizer to high impact areas as well as schools, the MTA and other government agencies because you can't get it on the market and the product that is available is very expensive. The biggest problem we have in this situation is fear, not the virus itself, and I'm once again reminding everyone to focus on the facts because the facts do not warrant the level of anxiety we are seeing."
Of the 142 total individuals in New York State who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:
Westchester: 98 (16 new cases)
New York City: 19 (7 new cases)
Nassau: 17 (12 new cases)
Rockland: 4 (2 new cases)
Saratoga: 2
Suffolk: 1
Ulster: 1
DOCCS, through its correctional industries entity known as Corcraft, will produce an alcohol-based formula recognized by the World Health Organization and has begun production at Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock, Washington County, this week. Through this ongoing effort, the Department will be able to produce up to 100,000 gallons of hand sanitizer per week. Corcraft, which produces dozens of products, uses the manufacturing process to assist in the department's overall mission to prepare offenders for release through skill development, work ethic, respect and responsibility.
Local governments seeking to obtain additional stocks of hand sanitizer should work with their County's Emergency Manager and local Health Department to submit requests directly into NY Responds, the state's web-based system which enables both local governments and state agencies to submit and share vital emergency-related information and resource requests.
Reportedly, some retailers are charging approximately 10 times what major retailers charge for hand sanitizer. On eBay a pack of five 2.5-ounce Germ-X hand sanitizer bottles were selling for $500 - by comparison, two 30-ounce bottles of Germ-X were offered online by Walmart for less than $8.
The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision also began a new screening protocol for COVID-19 for visitors to each of the State's 52 correctional facilities to help avoid the introduction of COVID-19 into the Department's facilities. Upon arrival to the facility, visitors will be asked a series of questions regarding any illness or symptoms they may be currently experiencing; travel outside of the United States within the past four weeks, including that of family members; and any direct exposure to an individual diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in the past four weeks.
