Total cases are stable, but remain at a relatively high level. Now is not the time for us to be complacent, particularly with cooler months ahead.
When we break down case rates by vaccination status, we see a marked difference in risk depending on whether one is vaccinated versus unvaccinated. The same holds true for hospitalization rates.
Citywide, hospitalizations are down from their August peak (in this most recent wave), but not yet back to the lower levels we had seen earlier in the summer. Here is a graph that shows longer-term trends for hospitalizations.
#COVID19 vaccines have made a major difference in preventing hospitalizations and saving lives.
This week, we are likely to cross 70% of ALL New Yorkers with at least one dose of vaccine, and 63% fully vaccinated.
We have made significant strides in getting more New Yorkers vaccinated in recent weeks, by further lowering access barriers, using incentives, and advancing vaccine requirements.
This chart summarizes how recent policies and events are correlated with ⬆️ first/single doses.
~60% of first/single doses in Aug & Sep were administered to Black & Latino New Yorkers.
Despite this progress, certain demographic groups have lower vax rates, requiring a continued focus on first doses for anyone unvaccinated, even as we initiate booster doses for some groups.
Vaccination is the most critical public health intervention.
We must also maintain other precautions to curb #COVID19 spread—such as masking, ventilation, handwashing, staying home if ill, and distancing and testing as appropriate—to keep bending this curve.
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I’m so excited to open this Support and Connection center here in the Bronx along with @nycmayor today. The Bronx SCC will serve as a place where New Yorkers find the kind of connection, community and support that they need to begin the process of healing and recovery.🧵
Just like it’s counterpart in East Harlem, the Bronx SCC will serve to break the seemingly endless cycle of housing instability, contact with law enforcement & legal systems, and ER visits that is the reality for far too many New Yorkers with mental health & substance use issues.
The SCC will serve as an alternative and an opportunity to interrupt that cycle. First responders will guide these New Yorkers to the center, where they can receive immediate short-term support & have basic needs met while working with staff to have a longer-term plan in place.
Over the past two years, we’ve asked a lot of New Yorkers’ patience. And today we’re asking for a bit more patience and grace. Cases are definitively rising and it’s gotten our attention. 🧵
They will continue to rise over the next few weeks, and it is likely that over these weeks, we will move into a different level of overall risk for the City.
Masking, along with getting vaccinated, boosted, tested and treated are the best tools we have to take on this virus, whatever it throws at us. And you should integrate those tools into your lives as we adapt the next phase of the pandemic.
Alarming findings from this report about rising stress and burnout among our public health workforce: bit.ly/3qSB40G
This is a brewing mental health crisis and a major priority for me as Health Commissioner. 🧵
Over the past two years, public health workers have endured trauma and abuse. More than half report at least one symptom of PTSD and many report bullying, threats & harassment. Though you may disagree with public health officials on policy, it is not OK to harass and abuse them.
My team at @nycHealthy are heroes. They have saved countless lives, but do not receive the praise of health care or other essential workers. Despite the challenges they faced over the last two years, they remain dedicated to their work. They deserve our gratitude and respect.
#COVID19 update for NYC: Community spread remains LOW right now based on NYC Alert levels. Hospitalizations and deaths are stable or decreasing. To assess levels of risk we look at several indicators – not just cases, consistent with CDC recommendations.
We are keeping a close eye on the numbers and will continue to let you know what they tell us. At the same time, we know that the increase in cases in other parts of the world can be very worrisome.
While the losses of the past two years have been profound, we’ve also developed tools in that period that are saving lives – including testing, prevention, and new treatments like antiviral pills.
40,000 New Yorkers have died due to COVID-19. This tragic milestone is certainly not just a number; it represents human beings who are no longer with us.
It is difficult to comprehend their loss without also reflecting on what those individuals meant to their friends, families, loved ones and to our city as a whole. And we must address the toll of these losses on our collective mental health.
Yet despite this grief, we also feel determination and readiness to respond with vaccination, boosters, testing and rapid treatment options to prevent any further needless suffering and loss.
For my final 🧵 as @nychealthcommr, I’d like to invoke a saying that I love: “It’s better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.”
We have lived through a time filled with so many dark days, and so much suffering.
But public health, and the healing professions broadly, offered light during COVID. This wasn’t just about tests, medicines or vaccines, but speaking to New Yorkers’ fears, anxieties and uncertainties—and offering a roadmap for navigating them, even when solutions were imperfect.