Omicron spike may be flattening downstate, but the North Counrty is two weeks behind
By David Sommerstein. NCPR News Director.
Governor Kathy Hochul says there’s a “glimmer of hope” that soaring omicron cases are plateauing in the New York City area, but Upstate is still seeing a staggering number of new cases.
The rate of new hospitalizations due to COVID-19 is also declining, although it still remains high.
Hochul says the rate of new COVID-19 cases across Upstate New York, including the North Country, however, continues to surge.
“So we think that Upstate is about two weeks behind downstate,” Hochul said in a briefing Tuesday. “We don’t expect there to be any different trend in that. It would be nice if that broke earlier but we don’t see that right now.”
On Monday, the North Country reported its highest weekend case total, with more than 4,000 new cases. The state logged another 160 New Yorkers who died due to COVID-19 Tuesday.
Contact tracing to scale back
With tens of thousands of New Yorkers testing positive every day, the state is scaling back its contact tracing. State health commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said the revised strategy will focus more on “self-management” and less outreach from public health professionals.
“You should no longer expect a call from your health department” if they test positive, Bassett said.
“It is almost impossible to do contact tracing in the way we have been doing in the past,” Hochul said. “Everybody knows someone who’s had it, themselves, close family and friends. It’s spread throughout the community in a way that it doesn’t make sense to tap the local resources of the public health departments, who’d rather be giving out vaccinations and testing.”
Hochul said county public health departments will have the option to continue more rigorous contact tracing as they have been doing in the past if they choose to do so.
People who do test positive should immediately stay home and self-isolate. Hochul said the state is setting up a website to help people who test positive walk through their plans for isolation and monitoring their health.
Push for more child vaccinations
Hochul also warned that pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising, with 91% of children 5 to 11 still unvaccinated. She urged parents to get their children vaccinated, calling it “armor” to help children stay healthy through the pandemic.
Editor’s note – On Tuesday, Wednesday, January 12, 2022, Franklin County reported 898 current positive active COVID cases. St. Lawrence County reported 355 current positive active COVID cases.
Reprinted with permission from NCPR
Reader Comments(0)