Governor Kathy Hochul holds a COVID-19 briefing at New York Metropolis governor’s workplace on 633 third Avenue.
Lev Radin | LightRocket | Getty Pictures
New York is lastly beginning to flip the nook on the newest wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Kathy Hochul mentioned Friday.
The Covid positivity fee and the seven-day case common, which exploded to staggering new highs amid the unfold of the extremely transmissible omicron variant, are actually trending downward, Hochul mentioned at a press convention in Albany.
“There’ll come a time after we can say it is throughout,” Hochul mentioned. “We’re not there but, however boy, it is on the horizon and we have waited a very long time for that.”
Hochul reported 177 new deaths from Covid and 12,207 hospitalizations, whereas noting that each metrics are inclined to lag behind the present trajectory of the virus.
“You have all executed the fitting factor, and that’s the reason we’ll be on the forefront of the states seeing this lengthy awaited a lot anticipated decline,” Hochul mentioned, predicting that New York is “turning the nook on the winter surge.”
New York has the best vaccination fee within the nation, in accordance with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. Practically 73% of New Yorkers are totally vaccinated in opposition to Covid, and nearly 86% have acquired at the least one vaccine dose.
Hochul additionally introduced that the Empire State has secured 64 million Covid assessments,15 million of which have already ben distributed.
The omicron variant seems to be much less possible than prior Covid variants to trigger extreme signs, however it’s considerably extra infectious, resulting in a serious surge in hospitalizations and deaths.
However omicron’s milder signs haven’t led New York’s ICU wards to change into as overwhelmed as they have been firstly of the pandemic.
Hochul additionally thanked the Biden administration for sending medical groups to New York and 5 different states that had requested for assist with hospital staffing.
FEMA, the company that despatched the extra employees, introduced earlier Friday that it could broaden its coverage to offer funding to states that have been utilizing Nationwide Guard members to assist hospitals below pressure.
That is growing information. Please test again for updates.
