Hi there,

The job of a journalist is to go to where the silence is — especially when those in power seek to silence voices that question or challenge power. That is what we do at Democracy Now! day in and day out, and we're able to do it because of financial support from people like you — people who trust and depend on our independent reporting. If you believe that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential to the functioning of a democratic society, please donate today. Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations made today will be DOUBLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $30. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Gov. Cuomo Slashes Medicaid as New York Struggles to Get Handle on COVID-19 Cases

HeadlineApr 06, 2020

New York remains the epicenter of the crisis in the U.S., representing nearly half of the country’s fatalities. Over the weekend, more than 1,200 New Yorkers died within a 48-hour window, bringing the state’s official death toll to over 4,000. There are over 123,000 confirmed cases. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city has enough medical supplies to last until Tuesday or Wednesday, as he repeated a plea for any available healthcare workers to join the fight against the pandemic.

Mayor Bill de Blasio: “Please, we need your help. We need supplies. We need medical personnel to come forward to volunteer. We will compensate them, but we need them to come forward and give us their time and energy where it’s needed most.”

At his briefing, Mayor de Blasio also blamed the surge in New York cases on the lack of early testing and mobilization from the federal government.

As New York races to keep up with the explosion of coronavirus cases, progressive critics say the state budget agreed to by Governor Cuomo and the New York Legislature last week will harm New Yorkers already suffering the most from the coronavirus crisis. The $177 billion budget will slash the state’s Medicaid program by $2.5 billion a year, including a $400 million cut in money for hospitals. The budget also rolls back bail reform.

Meanwhile, a prisoner at Rikers Island in New York has died of complications from COVID-19. Hundreds of prisoners and prison workers at facilities across the city have tested positive as calls mount to release more detainees in order to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top