New York state announced its first deaths from the coronavirus Saturday as Gov. Andrew Cuomo said insurance companies will waive co-pays for tele-virus tests.
An 82-year-old woman who had advanced emphysema died Friday at Wyckoff Medical Center in Brooklyn, where she had been in critical condition after being admitted last week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Hours later, authorities in Rockland County confirmed that a 65-year-old with "other significant health problems" had died Thursday after contracting the highly infectious disease.
Cuomo also confirmed 100 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 524 cases in the state.
In a conference call with media, Cuomo said the first victim is an 82-year-old woman in Brooklyn who had a pre-existing respiratory disease of emphysema and had been hospitalized since March 3.
“She then contracted coronavirus on top of the emphysema, and she passed,” Cuomo said.
The governor says the state Department of Financial Services will require insurance companies to waive co-pays for telehealth visits. The aim is to encourage New Yorkers to seek medical attention from their homes rather than visit an already overwhelmed hospital or doctor's office and help reduce the strain on the health care system as well as prevent further spread of the virus.
"We are encouraging people to use telemedicine,” Cuomo said. “We don’t want them to go to emergency rooms.”
Cuomo says he also wants to add a second drive-through testing center in Long Island in the next few days, modeled on the one now operating in virus hot spot New Rochelle.
The governor says he’s signing an executive order to let schools in the state be open less than the required 180 days per year, and still be able to qualify for aid. Many schools have announced temporary closures. Cuomo says for now, he’s not recommending that schools close; he’s leaving that decision up to individual districts.
If a child, teacher or staff member tests positive for the coronavirus, then a school will be automatically shut down for 24 hours to clean the building and assess the situation.
The governor says he is recommending that the political campaign petitioning process, which is under way for June primaries, be halted. He says he’s talking with legislative leaders about how to change the rules for how a candidate qualifies to be on the ballot.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
