Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the number of positive COVID cases in the city doubled in just three days last weekend, reaching 7.8% positive.
In places like Sunset Park there is concern.
“Honestly, it was to be expected, with what we know about the new Omicron variant we knew that it was going to happen, so it is not that it surprises me,” said a neighbor.
And the fact is that the lines in the test centers have grown since the first cases of the Omicron variant were announced, which according to specialists is more contagious but could be less lethal.
Julio Herrera has been waiting an hour and a half to get tested because a co-worker tested positive.
“There are a lot of people, you know, I was in the clinic in Park Slope, it was very full … it scares me because there is a part of the city that does not want to be vaccinated and Ómicron is more infectious than other variants like Delta”, Herrera said.
That’s why the mayor announced that mobile testing sites will be increased, because some, like one on 44th Street, are already experiencing delays.
“Clearly it is a long wait, so I am happy that they doubled the number of test possibilities,” added the first neighbor.
It was also announced that half a million home tests will be delivered to community organizations, as well as one million KN95 masks will be distributed to control the spread.
And it is that at the national level the number of new cases of COVID 19 already exceeds 120 thousand a day.
“Yes, it worries me but now not so much because many already have a vaccine and it is not very dangerous as before. Before, as we did not know anything about this virus, many people died,” said another neighbor.
The city continues to promote vaccination, especially the application of the booster vaccine, since at the moment one and a half million New Yorkers have received it.
The health commissioner said he expects an increase in the number of cases due to the season and recommends wearing masks indoors.
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