NYCHA tenants to receive supplies to help combat coronavirus

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has promised to send services and supplies to NYCHA residents to help combat the spread of the coronavirus in public housing complexes.

News 12 Staff

Apr 20, 2020, 9:02 PM

Updated 1,558 days ago

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has promised to send services and supplies to NYCHA residents to help combat the spread of the coronavirus in public housing complexes.

Last week, officials were handing out face masks to tenants after local leaders said that at least a dozen people died of the virus.

As part of a partnership with urgent care provider Ready Responders, NYCHA tenants at eight complexes will receive expanded health services and COVID-19 diagnostic testing.

It is part of a pilot program at Highbridge, Edenwald and Jackson Houses in the Bronx, the Brevoort Houses in Brooklyn, one complex in Manhattan and three in Queens.

Due to there being so many shared spaces in public housing buildings, Cuomo says it is easier for the virus to spread.

The governor says 500,000 cloth masks will be handed out, meaning every NYCHA tenant will receive one. And 10,000 gallons of hand sanitizer will be distributed.

NYCHA told News 12 last week it was making routine calls and checking in on vulnerable people in person.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams says he appreciates the gesture, but the response was slow.

"The State's new plan to deliver face coverings and hand sanitizer to NYCHA amplifies what our team's been doing for the last three weeks. I won't rest until every New Yorker, starting with our most vulnerable and essential workers, has the PPE they need to get through #COVID19," Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams wrote on Twitter.

The pilot program starts this week and if it goes well, Cuomo says they will look into expanding it.
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