The Western New York region has officially kicked off Phase II, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced during his daily coronavirus briefing.Meanwhile, the Capital region is expected to move to Phase II Wednesday.The loosening of some restrictions imposed on nonessential businesses by governors in the tri-state state to slow the coronavirus outbreak’s spread have taken effect as deaths and hospitalizations continue to decline.On Tuesday, Cuomo announced that the number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations is at an all time low (at 154) since the start of the pandemic.
Nine of the state’s 10 regions — Central New York, Capital Region, Western New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country, Southern Tier, Mid-Hudson and Long Island — have met Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s criteria to start reopening and have done so. New York City stands alone as the sole region still under PAUSE guidelines.New York City, the epicenter of the national crisis, remains on track to begin its reopening process on June 8.
COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Therapy is Safe, With 76% of Patients Improving
The country’s first peer-reviewed study of a COVID-19 treatment that transfuses blood plasma from recovered patients into critically ill patients shows 19 out of 25 patients improving, including 11 discharged from the hospital.
On March 28, Houston Methodist Hospital became the first academic medical center in the U.S. to transfuse plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients into two critically ill patients. Collaborators at The University of Texas at Austin developed an antibody test and selected recovered patients with the highest levels of antibody response for donation.
With no adverse side effects caused by the plasma transfusion, the study concluded that convalescent plasma therapy is a safe treatment option for patients with severe COVID-19 disease. To date, this is the largest cohort worldwide assessed for outcomes pertaining to convalescent plasma transfusion for COVID-19.