Positive COVID test rates decrease, but Suffolk outbreak remains severe

For the first time in 12 weeks, the positivity rates for the COVID-19 test decreased this week in Suffolk County.

The seven-day average positivity rate, which peaked at 10.7% in the week ending January 8, fell to 8.9% this week (ending January 15).

The test’s positivity rate has been below 10% since January 8 in Suffolk. “After months of drastic increases, it looks like we’re finally moving in a positive direction,” said Steve Bellone, Suffolk County executive.

The county executive asked residents to “continue to limit meetings, practice social detachment and wear masks.”

Officials are hopeful that the peak of the holiday season is beginning to subside.

The county is focused on “putting the vaccine in as many arms as possible, as soon as possible,” said Bellone.

“Suffolk County is ready and ready to go. We have an action plan and infrastructure to vaccinate at least 6,500 people a day – we just need the vaccines, ”he said.

This week, the group of eligible beneficiaries has been significantly expanded by the CDC to include first responders, education workers, grocery workers serving the public, and people over 65 – meaning more than 7 million New Yorkers can be vaccinated.

But the state allocation of vaccine dosages has not increased. Although the Health and Human Services Agency Alex Azar announced this week that it would release the federal vaccine stock, it was found that there is no federal vaccine stock for new doses. The federal agency began shipping its stored doses in December, an agency spokesman acknowledged.

Supplies for the two approved vaccines are expected to remain in short supply for several months, officials said.

President-elect Joe Biden said he would invoke the Defense Production Act, if necessary, to increase the supply of vaccines. But Biden said “things are going to get worse before it gets better”.

The expansion of eligibility combined with scarce supplies has left thousands of anxious residents struggling to make appointments, overwhelming a New York state website that keeps closing.

Governor Andrew Cuomo said that consultations – based on expected available vaccine dosages – were quickly scheduled and people should now wait about 14 weeks to receive the vaccine.

Cuomo and Bellone asked residents to be patient.

There have been 12,173 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Suffolk County this week (January 9-15). County health officials reported 682 new hospital admissions for COVID-19 and 638 hospital discharge. There were an average of 823 people hospitalized for COVID-19 this week. There were 113 new deaths, bringing the county’s total fatalities in the pandemic to 2,604 people.

While the test’s positive rate has declined in Suffolk, hospitalizations and deaths – behind infections – have continued to rise across the county.

In Riverhead, there were 186 new confirmed cases of the virus this week, compared to 257 new cases the week before.

Riverhead Central School District reported 31 new cases this week among students and staff. New cases were reported in each of the district’s school buildings and in the transportation department.

Peconic Bay Medical Center had 40 COVID patients hospitalized on Friday, said the hospital’s deputy executive director, Amy Loeb.

Test positivity rates in Suffolk’s two micro-cluster focus zones fell this week. The average test positivity rate in the Riverhead zone dropped to 10.5% this week, from 12.2% the week before. In the Hampton Bays zone, the test’s average positivity rate dropped to 12.4% this week from 13.8% last week.

Public health officials are watching the spread of the coronavirus variant in the UK, which they say is 50% more contagious. The New York State Department of Health has so far confirmed 17 cases with the new strain, including two in Nassau County.

The CDC said this week that the UK variant is expected to become the predominant strain of the virus in the United States in March.

Health officials say there is no evidence so far that the UK variant causes more serious illness and they believe the two approved vaccines will be effective against the new strain.

“We are not yet out of danger,” said Cuomo this week. He described the situation as a “race” between vaccination of the population and the spread of new cases of COVID, amplified by the new strain of the virus that is now circulating in the United States.

Outbreak in NY is one of the most serious in the USA

New York currently has one of the most serious outbreaks in the country.

According to CDC data, New York has 88 COVID cases per 100,000 people, a more serious outbreak than in all states except five: South Carolina (88 / 100k), Arkansas (89 / 100k), Oklahoma (95 / 100k), California (105 / 100k) and Arizona (122 / 100k). The national average is 69 COVID cases per 100,000 people.

Suffolk County currently has 119 cases per 100,000 people and Nassau County has 111 cases per 100,000 people.

When there are more than 25 cases per 100,000 people, the risk of infection is considered to be critical. When there are more than 75 cases per 100,000, the risk of infection is considered extreme, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute.

The CDC reported 390,938 COVID-19 deaths in the United States on January 16, with a seven-day moving average of 3,326 deaths per day, the highest since the pandemic began.

According to CDC data, the virus has killed 1.2% of the US population since the outbreak began. The death toll in the U.S. is projected to exceed 566,000 on May 1, according to modeling from the University of Washington Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment. The 1918 flu pandemic killed about 675,000 Americans.

COVID-19 has claimed more than 2 million lives worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Almost another 1 million people are expected to die of the disease worldwide by May 1, projects the IHME.