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Coronavirus Updates: New York City's Virus Positivity Rate Hits Highest Level In 6 Months
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Dec 3, 2020
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Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Dec 3, 2020
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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Thursday, December 3rd, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.
New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, museums, and gyms, as well as 25% indoor dining. Schools are shut down. Certain parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island under a zoned shutdown. Get answers to questions you may have with our "Ask An Epidemiologist" series, or learn more aboutNYC COVID-19 testing options with our explainer. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.
Here's the latest:
- Photos: A Look Inside NYC's Biggest COVID-19 Lab
- Governor Cuomo Said The State’s COVID App Could "Make a Big Difference"— Did It?
- Report: Being A Restaurant Worker During A Pandemic Is Even Worse Than You Think
- Cuomo Says New York To Get 170K Doses Of COVID Vaccine By Dec. 15th
Coronavirus infections in New York City are continuing to climb to worrisome levels not seen in months as health experts warn about difficult winter ahead.
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday said that the city's seven-day average positivity rate had risen to 5.2%, the highest it has been in six months.
The city has now surpassed two of three warning markers that the mayor initially announced in August as a way of knowing whether the virus had gotten out of control.
Officials determined a 5% threshold for the positivity rate, and 550 for the seven-day average number of new cases. The city blew past the latter number in late October. Average daily cases are now closing in on 2,000.
In another bad sign, 174 patients were recently admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms. The warning marker for that indicator is 200.
"What we are now seeing more than we have seen in a long long time unfortunately is these three indicators moving in the wrong direction," the mayor said during his morning press conference. "It’s quite clear at this point that this second wave is right upon us."
Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered hospitals to draw up emergency plans and expand capacity. While he also expressed concern, de Blasio said hospitals were nonetheless better equipped to handle a surge of patients than they were in the spring.
This week, city officials began urging New Yorkers over 65 and those with underlying conditions to stay at home.
Health experts are bracing for the worst across the country.
Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday that the winter months could be “the most difficult in the public health history of this nation."
Speaking at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event, he said deaths had been rising. The country is now recording between 1,500 and 2,500 deaths everyday.
He said total fatalities, which are now around 272,000, could approach 450,000 before February.
Although the first vaccines are expected to arrive in the next few weeks, Redfield warned that precautionary measures would still be necessary for many months and predicted that large gatherings would not officially resume until the fall of 2021.
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covid-19 updates
coronavirus
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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