Brooklyn nursing homes can’t handle the death rate they’re facing
Almost 90 elderly residents have died from COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, between just two Brooklyn nursing homes.
Though the senior centers won’t confirm the exact numbers, it has been reported that at the Chateau at Brooklyn Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Sheepshead Bay over 40 people have died from the virus, and at the King David Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Gravesend has had nearly 50 deaths.
New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that he will not be releasing exact numbers on nursing home deaths for the sake of families’ privacy, but the Department of Health has reported nearly 2,000 nursing home deaths across the entire state.
Queens had the highest number of fatalities with 193 nursing home deaths related to the coronavirus and Brooklyn came in third with 136 deaths.
According to an anonymous worker from the Chateau of Brooklyn who spoke with The New York Post, the home was originally putting the corpses in the facility’s basement, but ran out of space and began leaving them in the beds, though the Chateau disputes this claim.
At the King David Center, ambulances are reported to be heard coming and going regularly, according to City Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, Sea Gate).
“No one from the city or state has been able to confirm virus cases but clearly something is going on,” he said of the center.
Some Brooklyn nursing homes have been getting hit hard by the virus, with the Crown Heights Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation creating a makeshift morgue after 15 of its residents died and funeral homes were not able to accept their requests.
Read more about this in this article: The New York Post
New COVID-19 testing sites open up in Brooklyn
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced recently that the state will be opening coronavirus testing facilities across Brooklyn, including one that is already up and running.
Brooklynites can now head to the Sears parking lot near the Kings Theater in Flatbush to take a drive-through coronavirus test. This location is in the zip code 11226, which has 1,021 confirmed cases of the virus.
The other testing center will offer walk-ins and will be in the Brownsville zip code area of 11212, which has 863 confirmed cases. It should be open sometime this week.
Appointments for both sites can be made by calling 1-888-364-3065.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will also set up community testing sites in East New York in Brooklyn, Morrisania in the Bronx, Harlem in Manhattan, Jamaica in Queens and at the Vanderbilt Clinic on Staten Island.
Additionally, Cuomo said that three walk-in sites are going to be opened up at health care facilities in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
Read more about this in this article: Patch
Far Rockaway health center to offer coronavirus testing
The Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center in Far Rockaway will begin offering coronavirus testing at its center on an appointment-only two-day a week basis starting today.
The community health clinic will be administering the tests on Tuesday, April 14 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. and on Thursday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Appointments for testing can be made by calling 1-718-945-7150.
The health center said that it will begin offering a third day for testing if it is able to get enough personal protective equipment for its staff.
“Testing is crucial for moving us forward as a society during this pandemic,” CEO Dr. Miriam Vega told The Wave. “Our community residents deserve to know their status so they can become empowered to take all necessary mitigating steps.”
Read more about this in this article: Patch
Queens Councilmember says constituents can’t afford to bury their dead
Councilmember Francisco Moya (D-East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Lefrak City, LaGuardia Airport) said that many of his constituents can’t afford to bury their loved ones who died from coronavirus and called on the city to help.
Queens, known as the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the coronavirus crisis, has had over 31,000 registered cases of the virus, according to NPR.
Moya, who represents some the neighborhoods who have been hit the hardest — East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Corona — said that many of his constituents are largely unable to access burial services for their family members, either because they can’t afford them or because they’re undocumented.
On top of that, these low income or undocumented community members are also on the front lines of the pandemic because many of them are essential workers.
“They’re the ones that are delivering our food while, you know, we’re safe inside. They’re the ones that are manning the cash registers and stocking the aisles in our supermarkets,” Moya said in an interview NP’’s All Things Considered. “They’ve been thrown into being this kind of front line support that has been keeping the city alive as we go through this process.”
He called on the city and the mayor to expand the burial claims system so that these people don’t have to watch their family members end up in mass graves on Hart Island in the Bronx.
“This is what you see in some war-torn countries, not what you’re accustomed to seeing in New York City,” Moya said.
Read more about this in this article: NPR
