New York National Guard Operational Update, May 1, 2020

LATHAM, NY (05/01/2020) (readMedia)-- On Friday May 1, the New York National Guard has 3,630 personnel on the COVID-19 response mission across New York.

This includes 3,098 New York Army National Guard Soldiers and 466 New York Air National Guard Airmen. Members of the New York Guard (the State Defense Force) and New York Naval Militia are also mobilized for the mission.

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.

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 military and civilian medical staff working at the Javits Convention Center 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. That staffing is phasing out this weekend and the facility will go into a cold status.

As of April 30, 1,095, patients have been treated 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.

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

The New York National Guard is supporting the alternate care facility at the South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island. Additional forces are providing support at three other potential alternate care sites on Long Island or Westchester which are being maintained in a cold status.

The New York National Guard is supporting 15 drive-thru testing sites with administrative and logistical support, medical support at some sites and mask fit testing services.

Test sites at The State University of New York, Binghamton, and Griffiss International Airport in Rome open today. A site at Monroe County Community College in Rochester is due to open on Saturday, May 2.

There were 4,677 tests conducted at these sites on April 29. There have been 180,627 tests administered at New York National Guard supported sites as of April 28.

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;

• Linden Blvd., Brooklyn;

• SUNY Albany;

• Niagara County Community College in Sandborn, N.Y.;

• The Buffalo Sabres parking lot in Buffalo;

• The State University of New York, Binghamton;

• Griffiss International Airport, Rome;

And Monroe County Community College in Rochester.

New York National Guard personnel continue food packaging and distribution today in the Bronx, Yonkers, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan in New York City, providing 218,520 meals on April 29. Soldiers and Airmen have distributed 3,727,200 meals since beginning the mission.

Similar food distribution missions are underway in Westchester County. National Guard troops distributed 3,120 meals on April 29, and have provided 93,528 meal packages since the start of the mission. In Albany County, troops have delivered 2,589, meals to quarantined residents as of April 29.

New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have been working at the regional food bank in Latham, N.Y. and have prepared 139 pallets of food for shipment across northeastern New York.

Soldiers helping to process and ship goods at the regional food bank in Schenectady, N.Y., delivered 2,647 meals as of April 28.

A one-time mission was conducted on Friday, April 24 in Amsterdam, Montgomery County and 1,000 meals were distributed. A similar one-time food distribution is taking place in Delhi today. The mission was delayed a day due to bad weather.

New York Soldiers and Airmen continue 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 to areas in the lower Hudson Valley is ongoing. On April 28, 179 gallons of hand sanitizer were delivered in the lower Hudson Valley. A total of 50,407 gallons of sanitizer have been distributed since the start of the mission.

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

There are 250 New York National Guard personnel working with members of the Medical Examiner's Office to assist in the dignified removal of human remains when required. Another 70 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. Soldiers and Airmen from a number of units are conducting this mission under the control of the 369th Sustainment Brigade.

The support mission also includes assistance to the Westchester and Orange County Medical Examiners.

Soldiers continue to man phones at two New York City call centers, including one for the New York City Division of Veterans Services. New York National Guard Soldiers continue to provide administrative support at two New York City 911 call centers.

Soldiers and Airmen continue packaging COVID-19 test kits for the New York State Department of Health at the Wadsworth Laboratory in Albany. They assembled 16,600 kits on April 29 for distribution across the state. The team has built 478,950 testing kits 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