New York registers record number of daily Covid-19 cases
New York has reported a record number of daily Covid-19 infections as the Omicron variant takes hold in the US at the outset the holiday season.
The state reported more than 20,000 new cases on Friday for the first time since the start of the pandemic, as the Biden administration stepped up appeals for people to get vaccinated.
Officials are concerned that given the US’s relatively low vaccination rate, a wave of infections during one of the busiest times of year for travel and socialising could quickly bring parts of the healthcare system to its knees.
Jeff Zients, the co-ordinator of the White House Covid response team, warned on Friday: “For the unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death — for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.”
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, disclosed on Friday that the state tallied a record 21,027 positive tests over the previous 24 hours. A day earlier, Jay Varma, the senior public health adviser to Bill de Blasio, the New York City mayor, warned that the positivity rate in the city was now doubling every three days. “Um, we’ve never seen this before in #NYC,” he tweeted.
The US had so far avoided the situation seen in South Africa, the UK and Denmark, where Omicron has taken infection levels to record highs. The US is recording about 37 cases per 100,000 people every day — half the level seen during last winter’s peak and a third the level of the UK.
But experts say it is only a matter of time before infection rates jump, and New York was one of the first places in the US where cases soared when the pandemic first took hold in 2020. The country has fully vaccinated 61 per cent of its population, compared with 70 per cent in the UK.
President Joe Biden has spent much of the past two weeks urging people to get booster shots, as evidence builds that a third dose will be critical in protecting against contracting the virus. There are also signs that the country’s largest pharmacy chains are struggling to cope with the demand for boosters, especially in large cities.
The president has so far resisted calling on states to bring in tighter restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, though some places have now begun to do so anyway.
Earlier this week De Blasio revealed details for citywide plans to tighten vaccine mandates at restaurants, bars and private employers later this month, while Hochul announced a statewide mask mandate for indoor public spaces last week. California, the most populous state, will require masks to be worn in all indoor settings until January 15.
Tourism in New York is also being affected. Several Broadway shows have been forced to postpone performances, and some restaurants have shut temporarily after workers tested positive for Covid. Radio City Music Hall announced the Rockettes dance troupe cancelled Friday performances of its iconic Christmas show due to breakthrough Covid cases.
The spread of the disease is also disrupting professional sports leagues.
The National Football League said on Friday it would reschedule three games over the next week due to “a new, highly transmissible form of the virus . . . resulting in a substantial increase in cases across the league”.
The news follows earlier virus-imposed postponements by the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association.
The recent uptick in cases in all three leagues comes despite high vaccination rates among athletes and officials. Gary Bettman, NHL commissioner, in October said all officials and all but four players were fully vaccinated. Both the NFL and NBA have vaccination rates of about 95 per cent.