New York National Guard Operational Update April 18 2020

LATHAM, NY (04/18/2020) (readMedia)-- On Saturday, April 18, the New York National Guard has 3,597 personnel on mission across the state.

This includes 2,990 New York Army National Guard Soldiers and 446 Air National Guard Airmen along with members of the New York Guard (State Defense Force), and New York Naval Militia.

Six Joint Task Forces are operating on Long Island, New York City, the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, Syracuse and Buffalo to support state and local governments. A Dual Status Command Task Force under the command of Brig. Gen. Michel Natali, the Assistant Adjutant General, Army, leads efforts to employ active and National Guard military resources in New York City.

The Dual Status Command is supporting 2,100 military medical staff working at Javits and in New York City hospitals. U.S. Army Soldiers of the 44th Medical Brigade are providing staffing at the Javits New York Medical Station. Additional medical staff come from the U.S. Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve, the Air Force and the Civilian Medical Reserve Corps. 2,708 people are working at the alternative care facility.

More than 950 patients have received care at the Javits New York Medical Station.

New York National Guard members continue to manage the Javits site as the unified command post for the multi-agency response.

The New York National Guard's 24th Civil Support Team is now providing rapid COVID-19 testing support to medical personnel assigned to Javits New York Medical Station.

New York Air National Guard Pararescue Airmen, who are trained as emergency medical technicians, from New York's 106th Rescue Wing, are also assisting in city hospitals.

The New York National Guard is supporting the alternate care facility at the South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island.

The New York National Guard supports 10 drive-thru testing sites, supporting 5,746 test appointments yesterday, April 17. The sites have seen more than 105,000 people since mid-March.

Sites are located at:

• SUNY Stony Brook;

• Jones Beach State Park;

• Staten Island adjacent the Staten Island University Hospital;

• Glen Island State Park in Westchester County;

• The Anthony Wayne Service area in Rockland County;

• Lehman College and the Bay Plaza Mall in the Bronx;

• Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, Brooklyn;

And at the State University of New York at Albany in Albany.

Soldiers and Airmen are collecting samples and providing general-purpose support at the testing locations.

National Guard personnel continue food packaging and distribution today in the Bronx, Yonkers, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan in New York City, providing 101, 108 meals on April 17. Soldiers have distributed 1,287,335 meals.

Similar missions in Westchester County provided 62,735 meal packages and Albany County where 1,172 meals have been delivered to quarantined residents as of April 17. These missions are not taking place over the weekend.

Meal support missions will expand beginning April 20 in Chenango County, Schenectady County, and an additional food support mission in Albany County.

New York Soldiers and Airmen are also conducting logistics missions, including warehousing and commodity distribution of medical supplies at six sites in the Hudson Valley, the Albany area, and Mohawk Valley.

Hand sanitizer delivery remains a mission in the lower Hudson Valley. The New York National Guard has distributed 34,537 gallons of hand sanitizer to local governments and other agencies.

The New York National Guard continues to provide logistics support to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City.

New York National Guard personnel are working with members of the Medical Examiner's Office to assist in the dignified removal of human remains. Soldiers assigned to the active Army's 54th Quartermaster Company are also providing staff assistance to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on New York City.

The support mission also includes assistance to the Westchester County Medical Examiner.

New York National Guard members continue to provide support to the New York State Coronavirus Hotline by working call centers in Rotterdam and Brooklyn to offer updated information to the public.

Soldiers speak with an average of 3,000 callers each day at each site and have provided response and support to more than 184,121 callers since the mission began March 11.

Soldiers continue packaging COVID-19 test kits for the New York State Department of Health at the Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany. They assembled more than 22,400 kits April 16 for distribution across the state, providing more than 182,700 since starting the mission.

New York National Guard images continue to go up on DVIDS: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/NYNG, and our NY National Guard Flickr site, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nyng.

The New York National Guard Public Affairs Officer is Col. Richard Goldenberg. He can be reached at Richard.l.goldenberg.mil@mail.mil or (518) 786-4581.