Rising Tide of COVID Has New York Gov. Answering Shut Down Rumors

"With new contagious subvariants circulating," New York health officials are starting to worry about the "rising tide" of new covid cases statewide.

On Wednesday, Gov. Hochul reported that 6.92 percent of COVID tests in the previous 24 hours were positive. The 7-day average percent positive is 5.56 percent. Both numbers are some of the highest numbers reported in many weeks.

"With new contagious subvariants circulating, let's be vigilant in using the tools to keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy and out of the hospital,” Hochul said. “Get your vaccine, your booster, and your second booster if you’re eligible, get tested if you feel sick, and if you test positive, talk to your doctor as soon as possible about treatment. Let's keep moving forward safely through this pandemic."

COVID Cases Increasing In New York Thanks To Two New Subvariants

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Two highly contagious COVID variants are to blame for the rise in COVID cases. Hochul confirmed New York State Health officials identified two new Omicron subvariants are to blame for the sharp increase in new COVID cases.

"We did identify two subvariants of omicron, which is driving the current spike in cases," Hochul said on Wednesday during a press conference in Syracuse. "We're not panicking about this, we're not changing, but we also want to make sure that we're smart about this. We're a long way from that peak, but I don't even want to get close to that peak."

Last week, the New York State Department of Health announced the emergence of two Omicron subvariants in New York State, BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1. Both variants are sub-lineages of BA.2, which now accounts for 80.6 percent of COVID-19 infections in New York.

Mike Groll- Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

Hochul says she is worried about the "rising tide" of new COVID cases across New York.

"We're taking this very seriously," Hochul said. "(This is) why we're back on the topic of COVID despite many of us having the desire to just turn the page and talk about it very much in the past tense. And we will get to that point, but then we've had a rising tide of cases."

Hochul Comments on Chance of New York COVID Shutdown

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Despite rising cases, Hochul assured Empire State residents she has no plans to shut down New York State because of COVID ever again.

"I’m not going to shut it down again, you can count on that," Hochul said Sunday in an interview on The Cats Roundtable.

Hochul says instead of any future shutdowns, she wants to focus on the health of New Yorkers and the health of New York's economy.

"I’m going to protect the health of New Yorkers, but I’m also protecting the economy," Hochul said.

After determining the cause of elevated cases statewide, New York health officials urge New Yorkers to continue to take the following precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19:

On Monday, a federal judge from Florida said the mask mandate on planes and other forms of public transportation is unconstitutional. The CDC has asked the Justice Department to appeal Monday's ruling. At least eight airlines dropped their mask requirement, along with Amtrak, Uber and Lyft.

Michele Ursi

A list of where you do and don't need to wear a mask is below.

Mask Confusion: Where You Now Do & Don't Need A Mask in New York

The CDC Says You Should Mask Up In These 10 Upstate NY Counties

The CDC has designated these 10 Upstate New York counties as currently "high-risk" for COVID as of April 14, 2022 and is recommending residents wear masks because of that designation. The designation is based on the number of hospital admissions per 100,000 residents in a 7 day period. Most of the counties on this list are in Western NY, centered around the Syracuse and Binghamton areas. In the Capital Region, Albany and Rensselaer Counties are currently at medium risk.