Coronavirus Rates in NYC Surge to Highest Since May

   COVID rates, which are rising every day, are now the highest they have been since back in May, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said early this afternoon on a conference call.

  Continuing its upward trend, New York State has reached a 4.27% positive rate for COVID-19, with 55 people, sadly, losing their lives in the last 24 hours.

   Although Gov. Cuomo said that COVID surges could increase through the end of the year, he insisted that the increases in COVID positivity rates are not a “second wave,” which would involve a mutated version of the coronavirus.

  “We are still in the first wave of COVID, and now we are experiencing an additional surge,” Gov. Cuomo said. “This is a [just] new phase for COVID, and it is going to continue to increase through the holidays and New Year’s, which is when the country’s increased social activity will slow and start to level off.”

   In this next phase, the governor said, the hospitalization rate, and the burden on the hospitals are what officials must most watch, not necessarily just COVID positivity rates. 

  The ultimate answer to solve the COVID crisis, the governor said, is of course the vaccine, which could be available for distribution in the next week or two.

   Despite increasing COVID rates, the governor applauded Mayor Bill de Blasio’s reopening of elementary schools, starting on Dec. 7.

   “I think what the mayor did today to reopened schools was the right decision,” Gov. Cuomo said. “I think that is the right direction.

    “Every health professional says, especially for K through 8th grade, schools should be kept open whenever they can possible by kept open safely. We have done testing in schools, and the positivity rate much, much lower than outside of schools.

   “It is actually safer for teachers and student to be in school than in the community.”

(Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)