New York State is on track to double the current number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and add 3,500 deaths in the next month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned this afternoon.
COVID-19 hospitalizations can reach 11,000 in a month’s time, the governor said. As of yesterday, 5,712 New Yorkers were hospitalized for the disease, an increase of 1,640 hospitalizations — 41 percent — in less than two weeks.
“Hospitalizations and deaths are inarguable numbers,” Cuomo said. “There is no politics or rhetoric in hospitalizations or deaths.”
Cuomo said if the state doesn’t change the trajectory it is on, “we are going to go to shutdown.”
More>> Data shows ominous escalation in COVID-19 hospitalizations
The governor again spoke at length about how individual behaviors and hospital management will make the difference as the state attempts to navigate the holiday season during the pandemic.
He again called on hospitals to take actions to increase their capacity by increasing the number of staffed beds and balancing patient load in coordination with other hospitals — even hospitals in other systems.
But the onus is on individuals to change how they celebrate the winter holidays.
“Get a different picture of the holidays in your mind,” Cuomo said. “It just takes one nephew, one cousin, one uncle, someone you love and that’s how it happens,” he said, referring to what he has dubbed “living room spread” — infections that result from small, home-based gatherings.
New York State’s guidance limits residential gatherings to 10 people. The CDC’s guidance says gatherings should be limited to members of one’s own household — people who live together. The CDC also says masks should be worn at all indoor gatherings.
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At today’s press briefing, the governor announced the expansion of one existing yellow zone and the designation of another, both in western New York. He did not mention any of the previously designated yellow zones. The state for the past week has not made public any information about infection rates in the individual micro-cluster focus zones. Town and county officials have said they are also not receiving updates about the focus zones in their jurisdictions.
Cuomo today said New York’s statewide positivity rate was 5.7% of the 159,844 tests reported yesterday, or 9,044 new confirmed cases. Eighty-five new COVID fatalities were reported yesterday.
Suffolk County had a test positivity rate of 6.7% out of 16241 tests reported yesterday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in a press release. Suffolk has reported a positivity rate above 6% on 11 of the last 12 days.
“These next few weeks will be some of the most challenging times, but our actions this holiday season will have a profound effect on our communities and recovery as we enter the New Year,” Bellone said.
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