This is our daily update on the latest news from COVID-19 on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. Previous daily updates can be found hereand the updated statistics are here.
New York is in Reopening phase 4 now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, museumsand gyms. Citing rising hospitalization rates, Governor Andrew Cuomo suspended indoor dining in New York from December 14th. After being turn off for several weeks, public schools in NYC partially reopened on December 7 for students in grades 3 to 5, with students with special needs returning on December 10th. Certain parts of Staten Island remain under a zoned shutdown.
Get answers to your questions you can have with our series “Ask an epidemiologist”, or learn more about NYC COVID-19 test 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 are the latest:
12:15 pm New York City should begin vaccinating members of its police force as well as home health aides, expanding the group of people eligible for coronavirus vaccination, said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
During his morning press conference, de Blasio also announced that the city will open mass vaccination centers on Sunday at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Bathgate Industrial Park in the Bronx on Sunday. These are the first two of the five large-scale vaccination sites that the city plans to launch and operate 24 hours a day.
De Blasio cited the latest increase in vaccinations for state authorization on Tuesday of an expansion in the number of skilled frontline and health workers. Another 12 vaccine centers located in several public high schools in all five districts will open next Friday. The opening hours of these sites, however, will be more limited.
New York City has already designated more than a dozen public hospitals, as well as federally qualified health centers and emergency clinics to provide vaccines.
Vaccination in all locations is by appointment only.
A total of 25,000 NYPD members can choose to have the vaccine; the city hopes to immunize 10,000 by the end of this week.
Criticized for a slow launch, the mayor once again pleaded with Governor Andrew Cuomo to allow the city to vaccinate those over 75.
“This city needs the freedom to vaccinate as many people as possible,” said de Blasio.
Marking yet another feud between the two leaders, Cuomo said that vaccine supplies are still insufficient and that many hospitals have not yet used up all their doses. In the 11 public hospitals in New York City, about 30% of health professionals initially refused to be vaccinated.
However, fresh out of the euphoria of a possible Democratic victory in two major contests for the Georgia Senate, the mayor seemed noticeably more energized.
“I’m feeling excited today,” he said, referring to the prospect of a Democratic-controlled Senate.
But the latest virus data suggests that the city still faces the precarious moment of the second wave. New York City’s seven-day positivity rate is now 9.25%. On Wednesday, the mayor reported 279 new hospitalizations for confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases, up from 211 the previous day.
Los Angeles hospitals are rationing oxygen, Arizona has the highest COVID rate in the world
A fire department medical truck accesses the emergency parking lot at LAC USC Hospital amid the coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles.
ETIENNE LAURENT / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Facing a record number of new coronavirus patients, Los Angeles hospitals instructed emergency personnel to ration oxygen and not to transport those whose chances of survival are low.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for healthcare professionals to care for those who come to the hospital with gunshot wounds, heart attacks, spills and injuries from car accidents,” said Los Angeles County supervisor Hilda Solis. “Hospitals are declaring internal disasters and having to open church academies to serve as hospital units.”
LA County averages 183 virus deaths per day, according to the Los Angeles Times. Over 75% of all patients in the county’s ICUs have coronavirus.
The crisis in the nation’s most populous county reflects the toll of the second wave, an increase that many health experts predicted after many states eased restrictions in the summer. On Tuesday, hospitals across the country registered more than 130,000 patients with coronavirus, setting another historic record. This time, parts of the south and west were hardest hit by outbreaks.
Hospitalizations in the South and West are now worse than at the peak of the midwest. And the East is close and growing too. pic.twitter.com/t7GQvCJL2n
– The COVID Tracking Project (@ COVID19Tracking) January 6, 2021
Arizona recently won the distinction of having the world’s highest rate of coronavirus infections per capita, according to a data tracking website. The state averages more than 8,000 cases a day, double its initial peak in the summer.
“Most Americans don’t want to know, they don’t want to acknowledge, they really don’t want to acknowledge and certainly – even if it’s falling on us – they don’t seem to understand the dire circumstances we are facing,” Dr. Marjorie Bessel, chief clinical director at Banner Health, the largest chain of hospitals in Arizona, he told the New York Times.
Hospitalizations have also increased in New York. On Tuesday, the total number of patients hospitalized for the virus across the state grew to more than 8,500, a jump of more than 300 from the previous day. During the summer, the level of hospitalizations dropped to 400.
The average positivity rate of the COVID test over seven days for the state is now almost 8%.
Cuomo said he would order another stoppage if hospitals in the region reached 90% capacity. New York City currently has 70% of its hospital beds occupied, according to state health data.