COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Cases Ticking Up Again: What To Know In NY

NEW YORK — Data published this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points to a summer increase in COVID-19 cases in New York and elsewhere around the country.

The data shows COVID-19 hospitalizations were up 12 percent nationwide, and that emergency room visits and test positivity also increased in what health officials say is the greatest spike in COVID hospitalizations since last winter. Independent laboratories have also noted an increase in COVID-19 test positivity, CNN reported.

According to data provided by New York State's Department of Health, New York's positivity rate from the prior day's testing stands at 11.6 percent, with a 7-day average of 4.0 cases per 100,000.

Also according to the NYSDOH, according to a report dated August 2, a total of 649 patients were hospitalized statewide, with 67 in ICU and a rate of 3.32 patients per 100,000 hospitalized with COVID-19.

On Long Island, according to the state data, the positivity rate stands at 12.3 percent for the previous day, with Nassau County at 14.8 percent and Suffolk County at 9.5 percent.

And according to the NYSDOH, as of August 2, 124 patients were hospitalized on Long Island, with 16 in ICU, with a rate of 4.37 per 100,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Summer travel outside usual social circles, record heat that keeps people indoors and waning immunity are possible reasons for the uptick in cases. CDC data shows the number of Americans who are up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations is decreasing, and health officials say the low number of cases means people aren't developing enough antibodies compared to previous infections.

In New York, 19.7 percent of females are up-to-date on vaccinations, compared to 17.2 percent of males, according to CDC data.

Importantly, the mild spike in cases is from an already low level of cases. Health experts expect the wave to be far less intense than in previous summers, and aren’t sure how long it will last.

Wastewater surveillance data suggests new COVID-19 cases are already leveling off, but much of the data public health officials have used to track trends was scaled back when the federal health emergency ended in May.

The last time so little data was available was in the early days of the pandemic, Caitlin Rivers, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNN.

That makes it difficult to “know what lies ahead,” Rivers said. “So it may yet peter out.”

Rivers noted that it is encouraging the increase doesn’t appear to have been driven by the emergence of a new variant.

Some U.S. counties are seeing much higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Two counties in Texas saw a 250 percent increase with 14 new people hospitalized — a “high” rate given their small populations, according to the CDC classification.

Other areas with higher numbers of cases are in southeast Texas, northeastern Oregon, central Oklahoma, Hawaii County, and southern Nebraska, as well as in Mohave County, Arizona, and Colquitt County, Georgia.