Parishioner dies amid COVID-19 outbreak in the Diocese of Brooklyn
The Diocese of Brooklyn, which oversees the two churches in Queens that came out with new COVID-19 cases on the same day last week, has had its first death due to the coronavirus.
The parishioner was an elderly member of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Jamaica, Queens and had last entered the church on March 15 for the 1 p.m. Mass.
“Our hearts and prayers are with this parish family during this difficult time,” the diocese said in an update.
As of yesterday afternoon, there were 38,977 cases in New York State, 23,000 of which are in the city, and there have been 466 deaths in the state.
Other coronavirus cases have been popping up throughout the diocese’s reach, which spans the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.
A week ago, news broke that two of the diocese’s churches in Queens, Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in Woodside and St. Gabriel’s Church in East Elmhurst, had seven COVID-19 cases between them.
The diocese has had several more cases since then, including both parishioners and priests.
The most recent coronavirus update put out by the Diocese of Brooklyn said that, in addition to the one death, there were five new cases from its churches, three of which are in Brooklyn and two in Queens.
These churches are Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Jamaica, St. Patrick’s Church in Long Island City, St. Michael’s Church in Sunset Park, St. Therese of Lisieux Convent and Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Kensington.
The diocese urges any of its members to contact their healthcare provider and follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines if they start showing coronavirus symptoms.
Read more about this in these articles: The Diocese of Brooklyn, Queens County Politics
Another public school staff member is in the hospital for coronavirus
A second public high school principal is in the hospital with coronavirus this week.
Rhonda Phillips, 48, is the principal of Kappa V High School, which shares a building with Brooklyn Democracy Academy whose principal, 36-year old Dez-Ann Romain, died earlier this week of coronavirus.
Now, Romain’s coworker is in serious condition at the hospital with pneumonia, pouring gas on the fire for people who are calling out the city and the Department of Education for not closing schools sooner.
“Our thoughts are with Principal Phillips and her family for a speedy recovery, and we’ll support the school community in every way we can,” DOE spokesperson Miranda Barbot said.
Read more about this in these articles: The New York Post, Kings County Politics
Brooklyn Navy Yard manufactures help make medical supplies for hospitals
The Brooklyn Navy Yard, home to factories and manufacturers, including some that once helped produce military equipment during the Second World War, are now making medical supplies to help fight the coronavirus.
Bednark Studio and Duggal Visual Solutions, a commercial event planner and printer, respectively, are now using Long Island manufactured materials to put together face shields for medical workers.
“This is like a wartime factory,” said Mayor de Blasio. “This is what people had to do in wars all over this world — when there weren’t going to be supplies coming in from somewhere else, they had to create their own. That’s what’s happening here in Brooklyn.”
The mayor said that there are more contracts with the two companies on the way, this time to allow them to make ventilators. The federal government has provided New York with 4,000 ventilators when the state actually needs 30,000 ventilators.
“Whether it’s face masks, the surgical masks, ventilators — you’re going to see a lot more stuff produced right here because we have to protect ourselves,” de Blasio said.
Read more about this in this article: The New York Daily News
