State

New York state has been criticized for previously mandating that nursing homes take in COVID-19 patients from hospitals. But on Monday the state Department of Health issued a report saying the policy was not the major driver of nursing home deaths, and that it was instead nursing home workers unknowingly bringing the virus into facilities. WBFO’s Older Adults Reporter Tom Dinki spoke with Dr. Nancy Nielsen from the University at Buffalo to discuss the report and what it does — and does not — confirm about the state’s more than 6,000 nursing home deaths.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker issued a report Monday on the likely cause of deaths from COVID-19 in New York’s nursing homes that he says shows the virus came in through infected staff, not through hospital readmissions. 

The state’s ongoing fiscal crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to temporary funding reductions for some cities and postponed planned pay raises for state workers. It has also led to reductions to some smaller programs, including a key organization that has helped New Yorkers with intellectual disabilities navigate the pandemic. The program is slated for significant cuts this month. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the rate of the COVID-19 virus continues to be low in New York, with 11 deaths on June 30, but he said he worries that compliance with safety rules is slipping.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is adding eight more states to a travel advisory list, as visitors from California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee will now be required to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arriving in New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York is offering help to states like Texas and Arizona that are struggling with spiking COVID-19 infections, but is also talking with airport officials and federal border control officers on how best to enforce the travel advisory requiring travelers from states with high infection rates to quarantine for 14 days.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget office is temporarily withholding 20% of a state aid payment owed to several cities across New York, citing the COVID-19 pandemic-related revenue shortfall and budget deficit plaguing the state government.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are imposing mandatory quarantines for travelers from several states with high rates of the novel coronavirus, including Florida and Texas, effective midnight Wednesday.  

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is contemplating a quarantine order on travelers to New York from other states with high rates of the novel coronavirus, including Florida.

Many of New York’s cities begin their new fiscal year July 1, and they are struggling to balance their budgets after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent protests in some cities are straining budgets even further. Meanwhile, there’s a growing movement in the state legislature to raise taxes on the wealthy to help balance the state’s budget and to help cities.

In his final daily coronavirus briefing Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’s grateful that the virus is at an all-time low in New York, but he worries about rising infection rates elsewhere in the United States. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo ends over three months of continuous daily coronavirus briefings Friday. The briefings became a cultural phenomenon and made the governor nationally famous, as New Yorkers and many across America staying home to try to stop the spread of the virus tuned in to what became a daily ritual.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says this Friday, June 19, known as Juneteenth in honor of the end of slavery in the U.S., will be a holiday for state workers. And he says he will work to make it a statewide holiday for 2021.