New York City reaches “high” COVID alert level; indoor masking urged
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New York City entered the "high" COVID-19 alert level under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on Tuesday, prompting health officials to recommend indoor masking.
"New York City has transitioned to a high COVID alert level, meaning now is the time to double down on protecting ourselves and each other by making choices that can keep our friends, neighbors, relatives and coworkers from getting sick," Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said.
The new case counts have jumped 42% over the past two weeks in the city to a daily average of over 4,300, The New York Times reported on Monday, citing a database on infections. During the period, the COVID-related hospital admissions have increased 30% to a daily average of 835.
Despite a spike in case numbers, New York Mayor Eric Adams said the city is not yet ready to introduce an indoor mask mandate.
"We're not at that point yet," he added. "We're not at the point of doing anything other than urging New Yorkers while you're indoors in large set-in social settings. We're not going to panic. We're going to continue to be prepared."
Most counties of New York State have also entered the âhighâ COVID alert level after a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The average of new cases in the state reached over 10,000 a day as of Thursday. Over the past two weeks, the new cases jumped 47%, while hospitalizations rose 28% to more than 2,600 per day. The seven-day average of COVID-related deaths stood at 20 as of Thursday compared to 15 two weeks ago.
However, the case counts remain far below the levels seen in the Omicron-driven COVID surge in winter.
According to Dr. Denis Nash, an epidemiologist at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health, the case numbers could be higher than the official counts indicate because the level of testing has dropped, and results of home COVID testing usually go unreported.
About 79% people in New York City and 77% in the state are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccine makers: Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (BNTX), Moderna (MRNA) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
Last December, the FDA authorized COVID-19 antiviral pills developed by Pfizer (PFE) and Merck (MRK)/Ridgeback Biotherapeutics for at home use by high-risk adults.