Empire State's second wave: New York COVID hospitalizations surge by 80 PERCENT in four weeks and ONE MILLION residents have now tested positive - as Gov Cuomo vows not to get the vaccine until it is available to the general public
COVID-19 hospitalizations have surged in New York by almost 80 percent in the past four weeks, as the state battles a second wave of infections.
The shocking news was revealed Sunday, following confirmation that more than 1 million residents have now tested positive to the deadly coronavirus.
That number is likely to be far higher, given that widespread testing was not available when the state was rocked by the first wave of infections in the spring of last year.
New York state was the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic during that time, before infection rates began to fall at the start of summer.
However, the state is now entering a deadly new phase, with deaths, new cases and the overall positivity rate increasing along with the number of hospitalizations.
Gov. Cuomo confirmed that, as of Saturday, 7,963 New Yorkers are being treated for COVID-19 in the hospital.
That is a significant increase from the 4,442 who were in hospital back on December 5.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have surged in New York by almost 80 percent in the past four weeks, as the state battles a second wave of infections. A patient is seen being taken into hospital via ambulance in New York City on New Year's Eve
Gov. Cuomo confirmed that, as of Saturday, 7,963 New Yorkers are currently being treated for COVID-19 in the hospital
Graphs show that New York is in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19, after managed to curb infection and death rates during the summer and fall of 2020
On Saturday, 138 people across the state died from COVID-19 - an increase of almost 150 percent on the number clocked exactly four weeks earlier.
More than 30,000 New Yorkers have now died from the virus.
Gov. Cuomo is anticipating the numbers could get worse, as case numbers could further surge following the end of the holiday season.
He is also ordering hospitals to test COVID-19 patients to see if they have contracted a new, more infectious strain of the virus which has come from the United Kingdom.
The current second wave comes amid problems with the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna.
According to the CDC's website just more than 236,000 New Yorkers have been injected with their first dose of the vaccine.
However, that represents a little over a third of all doses that have been sent out across the state.
The CDC reports that more than 682,400 doses have been distributed in New York.
Meanwhile, Gov. Cuomo has vowed that he will not take the COVID-19 vaccine until all people in his age group have access to the jab.
'I move around a lot and come into contact with many people and I would feel much safer if I took the vaccine, but I will not take the vaccine until the vaccine is available for my group in black, Hispanic, and poor communities around the state,' the 63-year-old stated.
He added: 'Race or income will not determine who lives and who dies.'
Gov. Cuomo has vowed that he will not take the COVID-19 vaccine until all people in his age group have access to the jab
A COVID-19 patient is wheeled into a New York City hospital on New Year's Day
No comments