Today, New York is taking further action to protect our state's progress and aggressively respond to clusters emerging in specific areas of the state.
In consultation with national public health experts including former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, Dr. Noam Ross of the EcoHealth Alliance and Dr. Michael Olsterhold of the University of Minnesota, today we announced the new Cluster Action Initiative to attack these clusters head-on with surgical precision to stop the spread. This action maps the clusters by density of cases.
The FDA has approved the Yale University School of Public Health "spit test." This is a quick saliva test. Spit into a tube and 5 minutes later a result is shown. It has 90%-95% accuracy. About the same as the nasal swab test. The NBA, MLB and major league soccer have been using this test on thousands of players and staff. This is the kind of test that could be rolled out as a home kit the world over.
According to Time Out NY, which tracks and creates a complete list of things to do in and around the city, they have put out a great synopsis of what will be opening in Phase 2 and what still is off limits. It seems the Mayor Bill De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have a bit of a discrepancy.