[ad_1]
The state’s coronavirus positivity rate continued to rise, as the number of New Yorkers newly diagnosed with COVID-19 surpassed 1,000 for the first time since May, according to state data released on Saturday. .
Rates of COVID-19 are rising across the country, as the highly contagious delta variant of the virus spreads, with serious illness resulting almost exclusively in unvaccinated people, according to medical experts.
The percentage of people who received positive test results in New York on Friday rose to 1.39% from 1.23% on Thursday, and the seven-day positivity rate fell from 1.19% to 1.19% , reported the State. This is more than triple the rate of 0.35% on June 23.
Northwell Health chief medical officer Dr David Battinelli said the spike was “disappointing, but not surprising”.
“There is a total and blatant disregard for the need to mask yourself if you are not vaccinated, and that is what is going to happen,” he said.
Some people “misinterpret what openness means,” Battinelli said.
“When the numbers go down, the belief is that the virus is gone,” he said. “It’s exactly the opposite. All that means is that the virus is not able to spread among its hosts, which are humans, because of the vaccinations and the masks. or the other, and it will happen not only this time but again, again and again. “
There were 1,156 positive test results reported on Friday, the highest number since May 21. There were 981 cases on Thursday and 275 on June 28.
In Nassau County, the number of new cases rose to 106 from 87 on Thursday, and in Suffolk the number rose from 73 to 75.
Long Island’s seven-day positivity rate rose to 1.37%, from 1.28% on Thursday.
Marc Adler, chief medical officer at NYU Langone-Long Island Hospital in Mineola, said “the real concern will be in the fall,” when the cooler weather moves more activity indoors and many people are likely to continue not to wear masks.
“We are optimistic about a year ago because we now have [more than] 70% of the adult population in this region has been vaccinated, “he said.” We didn’t have this a year ago. “
In Nassau County, 80.8% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and in Suffolk, 73.6%, according to state health department data released on Saturday.
While touting Nassau’s vaccination rate, the highest of any major county in the state, county manager Laura Curran urged unvaccinated residents to get vaccinated.
“As the Delta variant continues to spread, residents who are not vaccinated continue to be at the greatest risk,” she said in a statement.
In New York City, the delta variant now accounts for more than two-thirds of COVID-19 cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday.
Vaccines offer strong protection, Battinelli said.
“The good news is that anyone who has been vaccinated and is exposed to the delta variant and becomes positive, they don’t get sick,” he said. “We are not yet seeing the number of hospitals increase. Once vulnerable populations are infected, I expect that we will see an increase in the number of hospitalizations.”
Statewide hospitalizations declined slightly on Friday, but increased in Long Island.
In Long Island, 59 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized on Friday, up from 53 on Thursday.
Statewide, 354 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, up from 360 on Thursday but still more than the 340 hospitalized on Wednesday.
In NYU Long Island, Adler said, “the patients who come to the hospital are generally the youngest and unvaccinated population right now.”
Young people are less likely to become seriously ill or die from COVID-19, he said.
Less than half of New Yorkers aged 16 to 25 are fully immunized, compared to more than 84% of residents aged 65 to 74, according to statistics from the Department of Health.
Despite the sharp increase in cases, New York still has a rate of new COVID-19 cases per capita that is much lower than most other states.
In general, states with low levels of COVID-19 vaccination have the highest rates of new cases. New York State outside New York City recorded 19.3 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, and New York City recorded 33.9, according to data from the Centers for US Disease Control and Prevention released Friday.
In contrast, Arkansas had 235.9 cases per 100,000 and Missouri 218.1.
Four people died from COVID-19 in New York on Friday, none on Long Island.
The state’s vaccination rate rose on Friday to 73.7% of adults who have at least one dose of the vaccine and 67.2% who are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data reported by the state.
On Long Island, 2,851 people received their first dose of vaccine in the 24 hours ending Saturday at 11 a.m., and 2,630 people received their second dose – or single dose of Johnson & Johnson.
With Matthieu Chayes
Sign up for COVID-19 SMS alerts at newsday.com/text.
David Olson covers health care. He has been with Newsday since 2015 and has previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.
[ad_2]
Source link