NY, HV Mark Milestone On Other Side Of Omicron Surge

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — New York marked a milestone Thursday, with a statewide coronavirus positivity rate of 9.75 percent — the first time since Dec. 20 that the figure has been below 10 percent, state officials said.

The Hudson Valley didn't lag far behind: the positivity rate was 11.2 percent Thursday, for the first time since Dec. 21, and only half as high as at its peak Jan. 9.

The leading edge of the omicron wave in New York peaked on Jan. 2, when the state recorded a 23 percent positivity rate, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday at her COVID-19 briefing, which was held on Long Island. Friday's number of new positives, 28,296, was down 90,000 since Jan. 7 — a 66.6 percent drop in two weeks, she said.

"Finally, we are trending downward, downward, downward," she said. "Boy those numbers look good."

The Hudson Valley has seen a drop in positivity rates and also a decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations since Jan. 10.

Although, regionally, coronavirus infections are still far more prevalent — 120.6 per 100,000 residents — than at this time in 2021, when there were 83.9 cases per 100,000 residents, the drop in cases has been precipitous since Jan. 9.

Also, the lagging edge of the surge is showing a downward trend. Hospitalizations in the Hudson Valley began dropping 10 days ago.

Hochul spoke at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, where critical COVID-19 research has been taking place.

She said vaccinations, masking, and testing have been key components to handling the uptick, with 73 million tests secured in New York and 16 million out the door, as well as 10 million to schools.

She was asked about the challenges to her authority on Long Island, where the newly-sworn-in Nassau County Executive issued an executive order Jan. 6 saying school districts, over which he has no authority, could lift the state's mask mandate; and the Massapequa Board of Education voted Thursday to end the mask mandate in all its schools effective Feb. 21.

"Personally, as a parent, I find it phenomenal that apparently, people are willing to play politics with children's lives," she said, adding that once the state mask mandate lapses, no school district will be expected to follow those protocols. The measure could be lifted before Feb. 21, she said, adding that she is assessing the situation.

She again praised the businesses that followed the state's omicron surge mask-or-vaxx mandate, and said she'd have a decision by Jan. 31 on lifting it.

"One of the best things I look forward to is the day I can say the requirements are suspended and that they did the job they were meant to do and kept New Yorkers safe," Hochul said.

Patch Editor Lisa Finn contributed to this report.