New York’s COVID cases ‘trending in right direction’ as positivity rate falls below 10%
ALBANY - New York’s statewide COVID positivity rate fell below 10% on Friday, the first time the marker has dropped into the single digits in more than a month.
Speaking at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, Gov. Hochul said she’s confident that the state is heading in the right direction following the omicron-fueled holiday surge.
“Here is a trend that you don’t need to be a scientist to see: The trend is going down, a 66% drop in new cases over the past two weeks,” the governor said.
On Friday, the state reported 28,296 new coronavirus cases, a fraction of the nearly 100,000 daily cases being recorded at the height of the most recent surge earlier this month.
In the city, the seven-day average of new daily cases has been well under 20,000, New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said earlier this week. Hochul commended the city and Long Island for a swift decline in cases over the past two weeks.
On Friday, the city’s seven-day positivity rate fell to 10.49% from 17.55% a week ago after peaking around 23% earlier in the month, according to state data.
While Hochul commended the city and Long Island for plummeting cases, she noted that hospitalizations remain above 11,000 statewide. Some areas upstate are still struggling as hospitals experience bed shortages and staffing issues.
The state’s overall seven-day average of new COVID hospitalizations is down 20.5% compared to one week ago.
Still, staffing issues remain a concern in the city, prompting Hochul to deploy an additional 88 nonmedical National Guard troops to support staff at nine nursing homes across the five boroughs.
Additional federal help is also on the way as military surge teams from the Biden administration arrive at a Brooklyn hospital and one in New Jersey in the coming days.
“This is a reminder that this isn’t over,” Hochul said. “We’ve got overworked healthcare workers still on the front lines.”
Despite the decline in cases and hospitalizations, another 154 New Yorkers died from the virus. While a far cry from the more than 800 daily deaths recorded during the first wave of infections in early 2020, Hochul said the current number is a reminder that mask and vaccine mandates are still needed to keep people safe.
“We are not letting our foot off the pedal until we can declare that we’re at a place that we can manage without all the restrictions we put in place -- but until then we do believe that everything we’re doing is making a difference,” she said.
Hochul noted that both her sister and son recently contracted COVID, and she urged all eligible New Yorkers to get vaccinated or boosted “for that extra suit of armor.”
“We’re not through the surge yet, but boy do those numbers look good,” she added.
The governor also took a dig at Long Island officials, such as Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and some local school district leaders, who have chosen to defy state mask orders.
“I find it phenomenally disappointing that people are willing to play politics with children’s lives,” Hochul said.
She said the state’s vax-or-mask rule for businesses and venues, set to expire Feb. 1, as well as the mask mandate for schools, will remain in place for the time being.
“Schools are safe, and why are they safe? Because people have been wearing masks,” Hochul said. “Kids are wearing masks, and they’re adapting to it. Not something we’re going to keep much longer, we know we don’t have to, but this has kept children safe and in a learning environment.”
