COVID-19 cases are surging once again across the country, with thousands of new cases being reported every day. 

Several clusters have broken out across New York in recent weeks and while officials have worked hard to keep them mostly contained, it raises the persistent question that has hung in the air since June. 

Would New York be ready for a second wave of the virus?  

AARP New York and 27 other organizations are calling on the State Assembly to pass a bill that would create a ‘Long-Term Care Task Force.’ 

This task force would examine the impact COVID-19 had on long-term care and how services can improve. 

“We can never let the horrors that have occurred in our nursing homes and the tremendous strain on our long-term care system the past seven months happen again,” AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel said. “Too many of our parents, grandparents and spouses died – alone, under tragic conditions. We need a thorough rethinking of how to better prepare our long-term care system for a potential second wave of the pandemic or any future health emergency. This bill would create a mechanism to do just that.”

All 28 organizations sent a letter to State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie asking that he take up this legislation. This bill already passed the State Senate with bi-partisan support earlier this year. 

“New York State is reimagining many of the systems we depend on, such as schools and hospitals,” the letter writes. “Another critical system that requires substantial consideration, especially in light of the pandemic, is our long-term care system.” 

The task force would create a report that would examine the impact of issues like staffing shortages, visitation bans, safety protocols and more. 

According to the State Health Department, more than 6,500 nursing home residents died from COVID-19. However, this does not include the number of COVID positive residents who passed away after being transferred to a hospital, which Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker still has not released.