Governor Andrew Cuomo warns that the state is headed for another shut down if the rising rate of the coronavirus does not slow.
Cuomo spoke as the latest numbers available, for Sunday, shows that the COVID-19 positivity rate is 5.66%. More than 5,700 New Yorkers were in the hospital with the disease, up over 300 people from Saturday. And 83 died of Covid on Sunday.
The governor says while New York’s rate is lower than most other states, the numbers are alarming, and if not turned around, may soon lead to a second total closure of all but essential businesses and services.
“If we do not change the trajectory, we could very well be headed to shut down,” Cuomo said. “And shut down is something to worry about.”
Cuomo says the regions of particular concern are the Rochester area, Central New York, and New York City, where infections are rising and the number of hospitalizations are increasing.
He warns that gathering for the holidays says will raise transmission rates even further. Small gatherings of family and friends account for 74% of virus spread, according to contact tracers. The governor says New Yorkers should “ get a different picture of the holidays in your mind” and celebrate only within their own households.
“It just takes one nephew, one cousin, one uncle,” Cuomo said. “And now you have a problem.”
Earlier in the day, Cuomo live-streamed the first New Yorker to be vaccinated for the virus, a Queens critical care nurse. He says it will take months before the vaccination rate hits a critical mass of 75% to 85%. For now, the governor says economic shutdown is the only tool in the tool box for tamping down the spread of the virus.