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U.S. NEWS Friday 3 april 2020
Poorer NYC neighborhoods hit hardest by virus

Continued from Front in a very small apartment. some patients out and mo- in the last 24 hours. There the duration of the crisis.
And so it’s easy to under- ving additional staff in. It were 13,383 people hos- The New York Post reports
The numbers back some- stand why there’s a lot of also increased its number pitalized statewide, with the request is forcing some
thing that has, for days, transmission of COVID oc- of intensive care unit beds 3,396 in intensive care. vets to prioritize human life
seemed obvious at Elm- curring,” he said. from 29 to 111 in 10 days. Most people who get the over the animals they care
hurst Hospital, the only ma- A disproportionately high ___ virus experience mild or for. “There’s usually a dis-
jor medical center serving number of people have DEATHS CONTINUE TO SKY- moderate symptoms, in- tinct line between veteri-
that part of Queens where also tested positive for CO- ROCKET cluding fever and cough. nary medicine and human
infections are most preva- VID-19 in certain Brooklyn New York state recorded Others, though, develop medicine and there’s no
lent. Long lines of people neighborhoods that are 2,373 deaths from the virus pneumonia, sometimes re- crossover,” Brett Levitzke,
waiting for testing and tre- home to many Orthodox by Thursday, with most of quiring hospitalization. The the chief medical officer
atment outside the hospital Jews, who, for reasons of them in New York City. risk of death is greater for at Veterinary Emergency
have been one of the defi- faith and tradition, also of- More than 92,000 state re- older adults and people & Referral Group, told the
ning images of the pande- ten have large families un- sidents have tested posi- with other health problems. newspaper. “That’s what
mic, as have stories of mul- der one roof. tive for COVID-19. The true ___ makes the time we’re in so
tiple deaths in Elmhurst’s Certain sections of the number of people sickened VETERINARIANS ANSWE- unprecedented.”
overburdened wards. Bronx have also had a dis- by the virus is likely much RING THE CALL A representative for Blue
Asked about the disparities, proportionately high num- higher because officials Veterinarians in New York Pearl Veterinary Partners,
Dr. Mitchell Katz, chief exe- ber of positive tests for the have been rationing tests City are answering the call which operates animal
cutive of the city-run hos- virus. and encouraging all but to give up their ventilators hospitals in Manhattan and
pital system, said crowded Katz said people getting the most seriously ill people to help fight the coronavi- Brooklyn, said the organiza-
housing could be playing sick in western Queens face not to seek treatment and rus in humans. tion donated seven ventila-
a role. “We know that in a second problem, which is instead ride it out at home. With city hospitals facing a tors to New York-Presbyteri-
Queens, many families, be- that it has half the hospital Deaths and hospitalizati- ventilator shortage as coro- an Hospital.
cause of poverty, live toge- beds per capita than Man- ons in New York continue navirus cases multiply, De But Levitzke’s practice has
ther in very close quarters. hattan. to increase at an alarming Blasio on Tuesday urged only one ventilator and the
So that while we are practi- The city’s public hospital pace as the outbreak vets, plastic surgeons and decision to give it up is not
cing as a city social distan- system has been trying to moves closer to its projec- others who might have one he makes lightly. Still,
cing, you may have multi- ease the burden on Elm- ted peak this month. There the potentially life-saving he said, “it’s just the right
ple families living together hurst Hospital by moving were 432 deaths reported equipment to lend it for thing to do.”q

With US border work on track, rural towns fear an outbreak

By MATTHEW BROWN, the community has been said it follows guidelines
STEPHEN GROVES and ordered to stay at home from the Centers for Dis-
CEDAR ATTANASIO and keep their distance ease Control and Preven-
Associated Press from others. tion but declined to share
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Ma- In the town of less than specifics on how it's pro-
jor construction projects 1,500 people, about 30 tecting public health dur-
moving forward along the construction workers are ing construction.
U.S. borders with Canada setting up camp in tightly Just south of the Cana-
and Mexico are raising packed trailers, residents dian border, workers have
fears that the coronavirus say. Others are staying begun arriving in the small
could race through tem- at two small hotels while Montana town of Glasgow
porary camps and workers they put up bollard-style to work on the 1,200-mile
could spread it to nearby fencing along the scrub (1,930-kilometer) Keystone
rural communities that In this Nov. 7, 2019, file photo, the first panels of levee bor- desert — a small piece of pipeline this month, ac-
would not be able to han- der wall are seen at a construction site along the U.S.-Mexico about 200 miles (320 kilo- cording to the company
dle an outbreak. border, in Donna, Texas. Major construction projects moving meters) of barriers being and the governor's office.
forward along the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico amid
Despite a clampdown the coronavirus pandemic are raising fears workers could built along the U.S.-Mexico The new pipeline would tie
on people’s movements spread the sickness within nearby communities. border. into existing infrastructure
in much of the country, (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File) Associated Press Adriana Zizumbo, 32, who at the Nebraska-Kansas
groups of workers travel of outsiders could make to survive small pox and operates a cafe, said line, where it would carry
every day from camps in problems worse in rural ar- the Spanish flu. she’s shocked to see doz- crude oil south to the Gulf
New Mexico to build Presi- eas with little or no medi- “It’s the 1800s again, the ens of people congregat- of Mexico for possible ex-
dent Donald Trump’s bor- cal infrastructure capable cavalry is coming in and ing when Columbus is on port.
der wall. of dealing with a surge of they’re going to set up lockdown. First proposed in 2008, the
Along the northern bor- infections. Both the border their fort, whether it’s justi- “It is kind of crazy because pipeline was stalled for
der, a Canadian com- wall and pipeline are ex- fied or not,” she said. I thought they limited years by legal challenges
pany says it will start work empt from stay-at-home Cities have borne the (gatherings) to five people and rejected twice under
this month on the disputed restrictions intended to brunt of the virus so far in or 10 people, and they’re President Barack Obama.
Keystone XL oil pipeline, reduce the spread of the the U.S., but rural areas are setting up some man Trump revived it by person-
which could bring thou- virus. expected to be hit as well. camps out in Columbus, ally approving the line’s
sands of workers to rural Faith Spotted Eagle, an That's a fear in tiny Colum- and there’s about to be a border crossing permit,
communities in Montana, environmental activist and bus, New Mexico, where lot of men in one (place),” and Alberta Premier Jason
South Dakota and Nebras- member of the Yankton residents worry about the Zizumbo said. Kenney said Tuesday that
ka. Sioux Tribe in South Dako- influx of border wall work- The U.S. Army Corps of En- the provincial government
Residents, tribal leaders ta, said she's reminded of ers who often gather out- gineers, which oversees was investing more than
and state officials have her grandmother’s stories side the town's few res- the contractors working $1 billion to get work going
warned that the influx about the tribe's struggles taurants while the rest of on the southern border, quickly.q