New York National Guard Operational Update for May 4, 2020

LATHAM, NY (05/04/2020) (readMedia)-- On Monday May 4 , the New York National Guard has 3,6 37 personnel on the COVID-19 response mission across New York.

This includes 3,003 New York Army National Guard Soldiers and 469 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, who are trained as emergency medical technicians, from New York's 106th Rescue Wing, are also aiding civilian personnel in city hospitals in that mission.

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.

A total of 1,095, patients were 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, providing logistics, administration and access control support.

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.

There were 5,146 tests conducted at these sites on May 2.

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.

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 234,418 meals on May 2. Soldiers and Airmen have distributed 4,911,786 meals since beginning the mission.

Similar food distribution missions are resume in Westchester County today. National Guard troops distributed 2,234 meals on May 1, and have provided 97,268 meal packages since the start of the mission. In Albany County, troops have delivered 3,011 meals to quarantined residents as of May 1.

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.

Soldiers helping to process and ship goods at the regional food bank in Schenectady, N.Y., delivered 3,406 meals as of May 1.

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.

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 May 2, 429 gallons of hand sanitizer were delivered in the lower Hudson Valley. A total of 50,946 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. No calls were made over the weekend.

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 10,750 kits on May 2 for distribution across the state. The team has built 514,310 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.