COVID Cases Plummeting But Westchester Sees Fatalities Rise
The worst of this winter’s COVID-19 surge appears to be over as cases locally and statewide continue to plunge but an increase in deaths from the Omicron variant continues to hit the area.
During the past week the percentage of positive tests returned dipped below 10 percent across New York State, while Westchester County has recorded a single-digit positivity rate for five consecutive days through the weekend. On Sunday, Westchester had an 8.3 rate of infection from 5,205 tests. It actually was slightly higher than Friday and Saturday, which saw readings of 7.9 and 7.5 percent, respectively.
The statewide number closely mirrored Westchester’s, with an 8.5 percent rate on Sunday, up slightly from 7.8 percent on Saturday under 10 percent since last Wednesday. Cases per 100,000 residents are declining in each one of the state’s 10 regions, said Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“Our hard work to bring down the numbers during the winter surge is paying off, but we are not through this yet,” Hochul said. “Let’s keep using the tools – the vaccine, booster and masks – that will help slow the spread of this virus, protect our families and keep our schools and businesses open.”
Westchester saw its active caseload on Sunday plummet to 13,309, a little more than one-third of the peak of the Omicron-induced surge that reached 36,345 10 days earlier.
County Executive George Latimer said given the pattern of the variant abroad as well as the timing of the surge from last winter, which peaked about two weeks after New Year’s and the end of the holiday season, it’s an encouraging sign.
“We’re hopeful that what we’ve seen overseas will also be fully manifest here, which would be a significant drop in the number of hospitalizations, not only as we get further away from the holidays, but as we get a little closer to spring and the better weather,” said Latimer, who acknowledged that it’s nearly two months until the start of spring.
The improving numbers have not resulted in a deceleration of fatalities, which health officials often repeat is a lagging indicator. Through Saturday, Westchester has seen 160 people die from COVID-19 in January alone, up from seven for the entire month of November and 60 for the full month of December, Latimer said.
Although new daily infections have fallen by nearly two-thirds in Putnam since that county topped out at 1,584 infections on Jan. 3, the positivity rate on Sunday was at 13.9 percent. On Friday and Saturday, Putnam saw rates of 9.7 and 8.3 percent, respectively, the only two days this month below 10 percent.
COVID-19-related hospitalizations have been as well, but will take some more time before those numbers have a comparable rate of reduction to cases. Through Saturday, Westchester had 486 hospitalizations; at the peak of this season’s surge less than two weeks before that, there were 627 patients hospitalized from the from the virus, Latimer said.
Hospitalizations statewide stood at 9,798 over the weekend, down slightly under 3,000 since the peak earlier this month, according to the state’s tracker on matters related to COVID-19.
Latimer said Monday that testing and vaccinations by appointment at the County Center in White Plains will continue at least through the end of February. Appointments for boosters can be made for Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and some Saturdays by visiting health.westchestergov.com.
Testing is available Mondays and Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. through the end of next month.
To make an appointment for a test, visit https://app.squarespacescheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=24841628&calendarID=6348560.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
