Rockland Executive Gives COVID-19 Update, Uptick is “Seasonally Expected”
Rockland County Executive Ed Day gave the following COVID-19 update to the county, saying that things are going as expected, and perhaps even a little better.
Rockland County is continuing to see increases in active COVID-19 cases. Based on our experience through the winter of 2020-2021, this is seasonally expected as people gather regularly indoors with family and friends. We are talking about this and sharing information for your awareness, not to cause panic or incite fear. And in good news, Rockland continues to have the lowest 7-day average for percentage of positive tests in New York State standing at 3.6%.
While active case numbers have increased, we are not seeing a corresponding increase in local hospitalizations. Based on the current 7-day averages from Good Samaritan and Nyack Hospitals, 16.89% of hospital beds are available and 38.62% of ICU Beds are available. This leaves plenty of capacity to deal with common emergencies like car accidents and regularly scheduled procedures. New York State has also been in contact with hospitals around the state, including ours, to offer staffing support should it become necessary.
There are 39 people currently hospitalized who are positive for COVID-19: 26 are unvaccinated, 11 are vaccinated and 2 are of unknown status. These vaccines continue to prove helpful at preventing hospitalizations as two-thirds of those hospitalized locally are unvaccinated.
While the Omicron variant has been detected in nearly every state of our country, we have not yet received confirmation from New York State that it is here in Rockland. The New York State Wadsworth Center is currently sequencing COVID-19 virus specimens with a capacity up to approximately 100 per day. Specimens are selected at random from throughout the state to provide surveillance across all geographic locations and data analyzed across the entire sequence of the virus. We will share any notification publicly as soon as it is received.
We are still learning about Omicron and its effects on both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals but so far COVID cases caused by Omicron appear to be milder. That said, the Delta variant made up the vast majority of cases that have been sequenced in New York through December 13, 2021, according to the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) database, the world’s largest database for SARS-CoV-2 sequence data.
The Rockland County Department of Health continues to operate their successful local vaccination program and encourages eligible residents to make an appointment to get vaccinated or receive a booster dose. Last week 149 COVID-19 vaccine doses and 352 booster doses were administered at three separate vaccines clinics.
Those interested in receiving a vaccination or booster at one of our Department of Health’s upcoming clinics at Building A in Pomona, the Martin Luther King Multipurpose Center in Spring Valley or the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack can visit our COVID-19 webpage to make an appointment: https://rocklandgov.com/depa…/health/coronavirus-covid-19/
Last week, I encouraged residents to consider getting tested before attending any holiday gatherings or family events and have since heard that many of you are having difficulty securing a testing appointment. To help ease this situation we have requested that Governor Kathy Hochul reopen the New York State operated testing site at the Anthony Wayne Recreation Center.
New York State also operates a website to assist with locating test sites which you can visit here: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/find-test-site-near-you
Additionally, Governor Hochul just announced that the state will be distributing one million at-home COVID-19 test kits to counties. We will share details about their distribution and use as soon as they are available.
As we prepare to gather with family and friends this week and next the Rockland County Department of Health continues to urge everyone to follow the CDC’s recommended public health prevention measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19:
• Wear a mask that fully covers your nose and mouth and secure it under your chin when indoors.
• Stay 6 feet away from others not within your household.
• Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. If the weather permits and it’s not too cold, open the windows and door for more ventilation.
• Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze by using your elbow or a tissue.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• Stay home if you are sick.
Where Rockland goes from here depends entirely on the actions that Rocklanders take in the coming days and weeks. I encourage everyone to take action to protect themselves, their families, and our community from the continued spread of COVID-19. But I want to remind everyone that this is not March or April of 2020, we have learned a lot about this disease and have far better treatments today than we did at the beginning of the pandemic. Rocklanders will surpass this challenge just as we have everyone before it.
And please, remember kindness and compassion as we navigate the holidays and the coming days of winter. The last 21 months have been difficult for us all and creating conflict with business owners or their employees that are just trying to follow New York State rules is not helpful.
