Newsman: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned today that state residents should prepare themselves for the possibility of another shutdown if rising numbers of COVID-19 cases during the holidays put hospitals at risk of exceeding their capacity in the coming weeks. Cuomo said at his daily press briefing today “The virus spreads much faster in New York City. Anyone who doubts that wasn’t here in the spring or has the shortest memory imaginable.” Cuomo addressed the state’s plan to combat the spread of coronavirus facing intense criticism of his office’s decision to temporarily ban indoor dining in New York City.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also warned of a shutdown earlier Monday during his press conference. “At the current rate we are going, you have to be ready now for a full shutdown, a pause like we had back at the end of the spring,” de Blasio said of the governor’s comments. “We should prepare for the possibility of a full shutdown. I agree with that.
Governor Cuomo said at his daily press briefing, “What you should worry about is shutdown, because if we cannot change the trajectory, we could very well be headed to shutdown,” “And shutdown is something to worry about. That is really something to worry about, because all of these businesses close. We go back to where we were. All nonessential business closes. They go to zero. So yes, we’re trying to change the trajectory.”
New York’s current coronavirus response plan calls for a shutdown of any region in which local hospitals are three weeks away from hitting 90% capacity of their available beds, Cuomo said. Officials would implement a shutdown at that point in order to take additional countermeasures to reduce the hospitalization rate and secure additional beds for incoming patients.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has faced extensive criticism from Restaurant groups after statewide contract-tracing data showed that just 1.43% of cases originated at bars or restaurants, compared to nearly 74% that were traced to private indoor gatherings.
“No region is at that point now,” Cuomo added. “my point is, don’t get to that point.
Cuomo said state officials have worked with hospitals to increase capacity in preparation for a patient surge. Hospitals were called to add 25% more beds and to reduce elective surgeries over the next few months.
The governor pointed to gatherings as a key source of the recent rise of New York’s positivity rate and repeated his call for residents to avoid meeting with others during the holidays.
“I think of it as a footrace between holiday spread and hospital capacity and vaccination critical mass,” Cuomo said. “The problem is, the experts say vaccination critical mass isn’t for six to nine months. That’s not a footrace, that’s not a spring, that’s more of a marathon.”
New York conducted its first vaccinations of frontline health care workers on Monday, days after the FDA granted an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.
Hospitalization rates have increased almost across the board in New York state, a consequence of the latest national flood in cases. Cuomo reported more than 300 new admissions Monday, bringing the statewide total to 5,712 (highest since May 18). Daily deaths are also on the rise, though those and hospitalizations are much lower than they were in April. Admission length has also been profoundly reduced.
If that pace continues, it will be at 11,000 in a month, and some regions may be overwhelmed, Cuomo said.
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio warned residents to be prepared for a shutdown, and urged employees who don’t need to be going into a workplace to work remotely “as much as they could.”
“The likelihood of more restrictions soon is high, so folks should begin making adjustments soon and work remotely if they can,” he said. He couched a potential shutdown as shorter than the one New York experienced in the spring. “Hopefully we’re talking about restrictions only for a matter of weeks, but we have to be preparing ourselves mentally and practically for that possibility.”
De Blasio urged city residents not to get complacent just because a vaccine had arrived. He said watching the New York nurse who received the first Covid-19 vaccine in the U.S. on Monday felt like a historic moment, giving him a sense “that we are actually turning the corner, that we are actually here,” de Blasio said.
But he warned that until the vaccine could be fully deployed, tightening restrictions would be necessary to address the Covid-19 indicators that are exceeding city-set thresholds. As of Dec. 12, 5.5% of tests were positive, up from below 5% at the end of November, based on a seven-day average.
The move comes as the city’s hospitalization rate has been climbing, to 2.73 per 100,000 residents a day as of Dec. 12 from less than 2 per 100,000 at the beginning of December. At the height of the outbreak, the city had an average of 13 new admissions per 100,000 residents per day.
Even with the climbing numbers, schools remain safe, the mayor said. New York City plans to move as many schools as possible to five days a week of in-person lessons, he said.
The city has opened 878 schools in the past week. Of those, 250 will be going to five days this week. That number will grow week by week, de Blasio said Monday at a virus briefing. “You’re going to be seeing a lot more,” he
