New York National Guard Operational Update, May 8, 2020

LATHAM, NY (05/08/2020) (readMedia)-- On Friday, May 8, the New York National Guard has 3,596 personnel on the COVID-19 response mission across New York.

This includes 2,976 New York Army National Guard Soldiers and 457 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. 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 military medical staff working at eleven New York City hospitals and the military support to the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

New York Air National Guard Pararescue Airmen, from New York's 106th Rescue Wing, have completed a mission providing ventilator support at Elmhurst Hospital.

The Javits New York Medical Station, placed at the Javits Convention Center, is now phasing out and the facility will go into a cold status to respond to future needs in the city as necessary.

New York National Guard members continue to manage the Javits site as the unified command post for the multi-agency response, providing logistics, administration and access control support.

1,095, patients were treated at the Javits New York Medical Station.

The New York National Guard is still 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 assisting at five new antibody testing sites. There were 283 tests administered at these locations on May 6. Test sites are located at:

• Orange County Community College, Newburgh

• Erie Community College - North Campus, Williamsville

• Onondaga Community College, Syracuse

• State University of New York Campus, Albany

And Nassau County Community College in East Garden City.

The National Guard continues to support 15 drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites with administrative and logistical support, medical support at some sites and mask fit testing services.

There were 4,989 tests conducted at these sites on May 5.

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;

• SUNY Binghamton;

• Griffiss International Airport, Rome;

And Monroe County Community College in Rochester.

Soldiers and Airmen are collecting samples and providing general-purpose support at the testing locations. 213,112 tests have been conducted at these locations.

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 273,009 meals on May 6. Soldiers and Airmen have distributed 6,203,706 meals since beginning the mission.

Similar food distribution missions continue in Westchester County. National Guard troops distributed 2,302 meals on May 6 and have provided 103,654 meal packages since the start of the mission. In Albany County, troops have delivered 3,507meals to quarantined residents as of May 6.

New York National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have been working at the regional food bank in Latham, N.Y. and have prepared 255 pallets of food for shipment across northeastern New York. That mission is complete.

Soldiers helping to process and ship goods at the regional food bank in Schenectady, N.Y., delivered 4,455 meals as of May 6.

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 took place in Delhi on Friday, May 1 providing 1,000 meals. A food distribution mission is planned for today in Fonda, Montgomery County.

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 local governments is ongoing. A total of 54,434 gallons of sanitizer have been distributed in the lower Hudson Valley since the start of the mission.

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

There are 200 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 24,500 kits on May 6 for distribution across the state. The team has built 581,380 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.