As the holiday season gets into full swing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned this week that if COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise, New York could see more restrictions including the closure of indoor dining in the city.
This week, Cuomo reported that the state’s positivity rate is at 4.7% with over 4,600 hospitalizations including over 870 in intensive care. As more people going to the hospital appears to be eminent, Cuomo mandates hospitals to expand capacity by 25%. The expansion is part of the governor’s “Surge and Flex” protocol for hospitals to prepare for the surge.
“We’ll renew the registration for nurses and doctors to get us a backup staff pool, and continue to caution on the small spread and at the same time, we are gearing up to have the most efficient, most effective, most fair vaccination program in the county, reaching out to the Black community, Latinos, undocumented, to make sure that it’s fair,” Cuomo said.
The governor is also asking retired doctors and nurses to sign up to help out and will automatically reregister them in the state without cost with hopes to get 20,000 health professionals to join the effort.
Additionally, Cuomo warned of a total shutdown if hospitals in any region hit 90% capacity in the next three weeks including all non-essential businesses and schools.
As more people go to the hospital for COVID-19, a study released by NYU Langone Health found that Black patients once hospitalized for COVID-19 have a lower risk of death than white patients.
“In keeping with other research, we’ve found that once Black patients with COVID-19 make it to the hospital—despite coming from lower-income neighborhoods—their odds of dying are similar to or lower than white patients,” said Dr. Joseph Ravenell of NYU Langone. “Meanwhile, we also know that Black and Hispanic people are disproportionately contracting and dying of COVID-19 across the country.”
All eyes are now on New York City, which is seeing a major spike in cases and hospitalizations. Cuomo is giving the city five days starting Dec. 7 to stabilize COVID hospitalizations or indoor dining will be suspended. Indoor dining is currently permitted in the city at 25% capacity. Officials say indoor dining is one of the major culprits of COVID-19 spread where diners are often in groups inside for long periods of time.
As restrictions are in place, some restaurant owners say even operating at 25% capacity isn’t enough to survive. One of the city’s notable violators is Mac’s Public House in Staten Island. The bar’s general manager, Danny Presti, has been arrested twice.
Last weekend, while trying to flee arrest, Presti tried to drive off when two sheriff deputies attempted to arrest him. Presti allegedly drove into one of the officers dragging him onto his car.
The deputy was treated at a local hospital and later released. Presti was eventually arrested and charged with assaulting the deputy and was released on his own reconnaissance.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said what happened in Staten Island should be a warning to all restaurant and bar owners.
“Law and order means when the State of New York says your bar needs to be closed, your bar needs to be closed to protect people’s health and safety—no excuses,” he said. “And when you violate the law there will be consequences. And then if you take an action against a law enforcement officer, there’ll be even more consequences.”
In the city, the seven-day rolling average for positive COVID-19 cases is at 4.98%. De Blasio warned New Yorkers again to avoid traveling during the holiday season and for vulnerable populations to stay in.
“If you have plans, cancel them—stay local, stay in very small, careful, safe gatherings,” he said. “Also, for anyone over 65, anyone with those preexisting health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and other serious conditions, or someone who has both changed your ways and your habits, stay in, stay in a safe situation, only go out for the most essential needs.”
Focus is now turning toward the COVID-19 vaccines, which are arriving in the city in the next few days and will be arriving weekly. The first vaccines coming to the city are from Pfizer, which require ultra-cold storage at -112 degrees Fahrenheit in special freezers.
“There are at least 44 sites across New York City, primarily hospitals, that are equipped for that ultra-cold storage,” said Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi. “In total, there will be about 54 hospitals that will be able to access the vaccine from those 44 sites for the first phase of distribution which will be for high-risk health care workers, primarily within those hospitals.”
After high-risk health workers, first responders, including firefighters and police officers, will receive the vaccine along with teachers and non-essential frontline workers. According to a survey conducted by the Uniformed Firefighters Association, 55% of FDNY employees don’t want to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The survey found that 35% of FDNY members have already had COVID-19 and possess antibodies believing they don’t need the vaccine.
Several Black leaders recently announced the creation of a 12-member task force in New York to make sure the vaccine is readily accessible to Black New Yorkers and address concerns about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Members of the task force include NAACP New York State Conference President Hazel Dukes, CEO and Executive Director of FPWA Jennifer Jones Austin, National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial and the Rev. Al Shaprton.
“We plan to make this a national model for the country,” Sharpton said. “We want to identify, with specificity, those NYCHA community rooms, churches, mosques, and other places our people go, so we don’t have to drive in a car, we don’t have to go to Walgreens [or] that we don’t go to get a vaccine.”
Reports indicate that many in the Black community are concerned about getting a COVID-19 vaccine due to historial mistrust of the medical community and about the number of Black people who participated in vaccine trials.
A survey by the COVID Collaborative found that only 14% of African Americans trust the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We chose New York for the Task Force because it went from being the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis to the nation’s leader in demonstrating how best to combat the pandemic,” Morial said. “The foresight and fortitude shown by the state’s governor and our non-profit community, who have been doing the work and out front on the issue of health care inequity, was just as critical then as it is now.”
