What you should know
- The delta variant is part of 83% of the positive samples from New York City studied, compared to 72% in the last report from the Department of Health and 57% in the previous week.
- This variant is now also the dominant one in New Jersey.
- Existing vaccines have shown effective protection against the variant, although the government and vaccine manufacturers now say a booster dose will be needed soon.
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Concern for the delta variant in the tri-state area is seen as positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths increase.
Over the weekend, New York’s daily progress shared by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office reflected a disappointing result from the rapid spread of the virus. Data from the state reflects an increase in COVID-19-related deaths by double digits, with 11 deaths reported on Saturday and Sunday.
New York reported 4,385 new positive cases on Saturday, a figure not seen since early May.
New York and Connecticut are now part of 40 states with a high level of community transmission with more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the CDC. New Jersey, which is not far behind, has a substantial transmission.
“Our return is a testament to our resilience, but the reality is that the delta variant remains a serious threat, especially for people who are not yet vaccinated,” Cuomo said in a statement Sunday.
The governor has not publicly addressed the state’s rising positivity rate since the beginning of last week. On Monday, Cuomo expressed concern about the New York figures related to COVID and asked local jurisdictions to adopt the mask mandate given by the CDC. The governor said the state would not implement a state mask mandate: “we are not there yet.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio expressed the same sentiment moments later at his own COVID press conference, but made a surprise decision the next day. On Tuesday, he announced that New York City would soon would require proof of vaccination for a wide range of indoor activities such as inside restaurants and bars, gyms, and indoor entertainment venues such as theaters.
The new requirement, which will roll out gradually over several weeks in August and September, is the most aggressive step the city has taken so far to curb an increase in cases caused by the delta variant. The “Key to NYC Pass” app is scheduled to start on September 13de Blasio said Tuesday. It will be its own digital platform, separate from the state Excelsior Pass, although the latter will also be valid, as will the paper vaccination cards.
“Climbing this ladder gives us more and more ability to fight (against) the delta variant,” the mayor said Tuesday.
The highly transmissible delta variant continues to rise in New York City, now accounting for 83% of all positive samples, and all of the city’s key indicators are moving in the wrong direction.
The situation is deteriorating so rapidly, in fact, that as of Friday, the city’s five boroughs now meet CDC guidelines to be considered “high transmission” areas where additional precautions must be taken, including using universal mask indoors.
The most probable new confirmed cases increased 25% in the city compared to the previous week, and 70% compared to the previous two weeks. The seven-day moving averages for overall positive tests, positive tests as a percentage of all tests, hospitalizations, and deaths are all higher than the 28-day averages, suggesting a steep curve.
To be sure, there are some slight signs of optimism: Daily new case totals finally fell a bit this week after weeks of steady increases. Vaccination is also on the rise following various measures such as the incentive of $ 100 for every first dose, as well as measures that are aimed only at vaccinated people.
On the other hand, the Department of Education also launched a campaign to remind parents that on Monday August 9 is the last day for children 12 and older to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine so they can be fully vaccinated when they return to school on September 13.
As of Friday, the delta variant, which first devastated India before spreading globally, and is believed to be far more contagious than the widely tracked first alpha variant, accounted for 83% of city samples tested in the last four weeks, according to the latest weekly data from the city’s Health Department.
It took just 14 days for the delta variant to go from being the fourth most common COVID variant in the city to the first, first outpacing the so-called New York City strain that initially emerged in Washington Heights before spreading to others. locations, as well as variants that first emerged in the UK and Brazil. These last two “variants of concern” now account for less than 10% of new cases.
As the delta variant spreads, following for example what the CDC has called an “unvaccinated pandemic,” nearly all key metrics are worsening in New York City. However, the rise is still far from the city’s darkest days.
Over the past two weeks, the percentage of people who are tested positive for the virus has nearly doubled and is now almost 3.3%.
PANDEMIC OF THE UNVACCINATED
Delta, the variant that was first found in India and is now found in at least 104 countries, has dramatically increased its prevalence in the US over the past month and now accounts for more than 80% of samples tested, according to the CDC.
Scientific evidence has shown that the delta variant spreads much easier than previous strains of the virus and causes more severe results for those infected, prompting new efforts at all levels of government to vaccinate people.
Officials now believe that the delta variant may be more contagious than the common cold and as contagious as chickenpox, well known to generations of parents as one of the most contagious viruses in life.
Vaccinated people infected with delta can have the same viral load as an unvaccinated infected person and be just as contagious, the CDC says.
The World Health Organization, which has called it the “fastest and best fit” strain so far, expects it to become the dominant strain globally.
Given the relatively small subset of positive samples sequenced to test for potential strain variations, both the CDC and local experts believe that the prevalence of delta, which is classified as a variant of concern, is much higher than reported.
The variant is blamed for an increase in cases in the United States that has seen new cases confirmed daily multiply by six since July 1 – now more than 120,000 people a day test positive nationwide, again to the levels last seen in early March. While hospitalizations and daily deaths remain comparatively low, those are lagging indicators and may increase as the delta variant spreads in unvaccinated areas.
The latest data from the CDC shows that they are already increasing.
“There is a message that is very clear: this is turning into an unvaccinated pandemic,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said recently. “We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk.”
The White House says the Biden administration believes cases will continue to rise in the coming weeks due to viral spread within communities with low vaccination rates.
Existing vaccines are expected to protect people against delta and other variants of concern that have emerged, but with less than 60% fully immunized, increased delta transmissibility and associated risk have renewed concerns.
The situation is so urgent that New York City will now pay unvaccinated people $ 100 to get their first dose at a city-run site. Starting in mid-September, vaccinations will be required to dine indoors, work out in a gym, or attend any type of indoor entertainment.
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