Increasing COVID-19 numbers in Rockland is sending some county employees to work from home. Staff from designated departments will, starting tomorrow, join their colleagues who were already working remotely to ensure the continuation of critical government services, though in-person meetings will be limited. And speaking of in-person meetings….
New York’s governor is predicting a huge spike in COVID cases after Thanksgiving. Andrew Cuomo says it’s just a matter of human behavior…
Several groups have filed emergency applications asking the U.S. Supreme Court to remove New York’s COVID-19 limits on attendance at houses of worship. The Times Herald-Record reports Agudath Israel of America, a national group representing Orthodox Jewish congregations, and two Orthodox congregations from New York City filed an emergency application on Monday. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brooklyn filed its application on Thursday. Both claim Cuomo’s executive order restricting attendance for houses of worship is unconstitutional. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has until Friday to respond.
Pfizer announced yesterday that new test results show its coronavirus vaccine to be 95% effective, up from the estimated 90% effective rate announced last week. Pfizer and its co-development partner said the vaccine is safe and protects older people who are most at risk of dying. They will formally ask U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of the vaccine. Globally, the companies expect to produce up to 50 million vaccine doses this year. Pfizer has research and development facilities in Pearl River.
COVID-19 by the numbers now, here in Rockland, we’ve lost another to COVID, the death toll now at 691. We’ve got one in the hospital being examined, another 51 are hospitalized confirmed with coronavirus, and a total of 1,524 active cases. The state says since the crisis began, we’ve had a total of 20,176 reported cases, 132 more than Wednesday.