2G new Fla. bug cases for 2nd day

MTA officials do not know how many homeless people sleep on the subway each night — and are out of their depth when it comes to addressing the problem, a report published Sunday by the agency’s inspector general says.

Gov. Cuomo last year cobbled together a task force to make plans to reduce the number of people who use the subway for shelter, but the lack of data collected by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has hindered those efforts, according to the report.

Transit leaders rely on the city’s HOPE survey, which counts homeless people across the city one night a year, and tallies taken by subway workers on just four subway lines to estimate the number of people who sleep in MTA facilities. The IG said that provides an unreliable snapshot that’s all but useless.

“We also learned that the data was not shared widely or used for management purposes, and no statistical protocol was in place to extrapolate the results to the system as a whole,” the report states. “If the process were designed more formally and carried out consistently it could produce useful information.”

The IG report is the product of a yearlong investigation into the MTA’s programs to coax homeless people off trains and into shelters — which are largely managed by the city’s Department of Homeless Services and the nonprofit Bowery Residents Committee.

The report notes that the problem of homeless people on subways “is beyond [the MTA’s] expertise and mission as a transportation agency,” but lays out that the agency should list out clear expectations city and nonprofit partners who oversee outreach. In order to put those benchmarks in place, transit honchos must first know the scale of the problem.

Bowery Residents Committee workers are expected to convince six of every 100 homeless people they encounter to accept help, but the MTA has no meaningful way to ensure that benchmark is met, the report shows. Another report released last July by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that the workers spent around 2.2 hours per shift on outreach efforts and the remaining five or six hours in an office.

The shortfalls in outreach became an even larger problem this spring as the coronavirus pandemic caused subway ridership to fall by more than 90%, forcing homeless people to be more noticeable on otherwise empty trains. Starting May 6, Cuomo directed the MTA to close the system each night from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. to disinfect train cars and clear out homeless people.

Cuomo and transit officials have hailed the shutdown, claiming that the subway has never been cleaner. But the MTA has released little data showing how the homeless outreach is going.

Still, MTA officials concluded that the IG report let them off the hook when it comes to addressing the subway’s homeless problem.

“We are in full agreement with the inspector general that this important work is the obligation of the city, and should not rest with a transportation agency,” said MTA spokeswoman Meredith Daniels. “We appreciate the IG’s work on this matter, and will continue to support and urge the city to step up and provide homeless New Yorkers with access to critical services as the subway is not a substitute for a shelter.”

COVID-19 cases topped 2,000 cases in Florida on Sunday for the second day in a row as stores, restaurants and theme parks reopen throughout the state.

The state Department of Health reported 2,016 new cases Sunday, down from Saturday’s reported cases of 2,581, but the 11th day out of the past 12 with more than 1,000 new infections.

Six new coronavirus deaths were reported Sunday, bringing the state total to 2,931.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the troubling rise was due to increased testing.

“What we’re seeing is of the people that are testing positive way more are in the [age] 25 to 45 than was happening two months ago,” he said at a Friday news conference. “The clinical consequences of them testing positive is usually very, very modest because they are not in the high-risk groups.”

The spike comes as multiple sports leagues are planning to return to Florida, including the NBA, with 22 teams set to resume at Disney World at the end of July in a “bubble” environment.

Universal Studios reopened June 5 and Disney plans to welcome back guests July 11, while Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry has promised a “full arena” for the Republican National Convention in August.

“We were able to demonstrate the ability to put together and put on an event in a safe, responsible way as we emerge from COVID-19,” he said Saturday on Fox News. “We were responsible during the pandemic. We ... flattened the curve pretty quickly over time. Our hospitalizations are low.

“We’re not going to operate out of fear. We are going to operate out of data, science, and get people back to work in a responsible way. And that’s what this convention is.”

But some restaurants around the state have already shut down again, fearing a second wave or even premature calls of the end to the first.

“This is unfortunate and unexpected and we apologize for any inconvenience,” Rusty Bellies Waterfront Grille in Tarpon Springs wrote on Facebook Saturday, announcing it would close until at least Tuesday.