New positives for COVID-19 in New York City surpass 1,000 for first time since May

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, the state reported.

The seven-day positivity rate, which public health researchers are focusing on because it alleviates daily abnormalities, fell from 1.19% to 1.19%. 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 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 – now second statewide after the Albany region – 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 high vaccination rate, which is 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 most at risk…” she said in a statement. “So for all of those who rejected the photo, now is the time to come in or make an appointment.”

The vaccines offer strong protection against the disease, 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 the vulnerable populations are infected, I expect that we will see some 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, compared to 53 on Thursday and 54 on Wednesday.

There were 354 people in New York hospitals with COVID-19 on Friday, up from 360 on Thursday but still more than the 340 hospitalized on Wednesday.

In NYU Long Island, Adler said, “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 the lowest COVID-19 vaccination levels have the highest rates of new cases. New York State outside of New York City recorded 18.8 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, and New York City recorded 39, according to data from the Centers for US Disease Control and Prevention released Friday.

In contrast, Arkansas had 230 cases per 100,000 and Missouri had 206.

Four people died from COVID-19 in New York on Friday: two in Queens, one in Brooklyn and one in Westchester County.

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.

If you count all New Yorkers, 61.5% have at least one dose and 55.8% are fully immunized, 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.

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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.