City Urges COVID Precautions Again As Cases Begin To Rise

NEW YORK, NY — New Yorkers should wear masks in indoor public settings and take other precautions while the city waits out an uptick in coronavirus cases fueled by the BA.2 subvariant, officials announced Friday.

"We’re making the strong recommendation that all New Yorkers of every age choose to wear a mask in indoor settings," Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said at a press conference.

The warning comes as a new more-transmissible form of omicron dubbed "BA.2" quickly spreads in the city. Vasan said Friday the BA.2 variant accounts for 78 percent of cases.

New York City's seven-day average case count stood around 1,200 this week, nearly 400 cases more than the seven-day average just 10 days ago, according to city data. The daily positivity rate stood at 2.33 percent on Friday.

Vasan said the case numbers will likely continue to rise the next few weeks and could move New York City from "low" to "medium" risk level on its new coronavirus monitor.

It also follows the rollback of several coronavirus protocols, including lifting school mask mandates and business vaccine requirements and, most recently, ending vaccine requirements for at-home athletes and performers.

On Friday, the mayor said the city will hold off on the next step of those rollbacks — lifting the mask mandate for children under 5 years old, which was slated to start Monday.

"We’re looking for the earliest opportunity to do this safely, but for now, we want to keep an eye on this latest uptick to make sure our youngest New Yorkers stay safe," Vasan said.

The postponement comes despite a court ruling that voided the mask mandate for the city's youngest New Yorkers this week following a lawsuit from parents. Adams said Friday the city plans to appeal the decision.

The city plans to distribute 6.3 million at-home coronavirus tests to help quell the spike. The tests will be available at 2,500 houses of worship, libraries, nonprofits and elected official's offices, officials said.

"Cases are definitively rising and it’s gotten our attention," Vasan said. "It's time for preparation, not panic."