Cuomo touts decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations as NYC readies for indoor dining

Gov. Andrew Cuomo put a positive twist on the state’s latest COVID-19 numbers Sunday as New York City readied to resume limited-capacity indoor dining.

There were 7,649 New Yorkers hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Saturday, according to the governor, who hailed the figure as “the lowest hospitalization [level] since Christmas Day.”

”It’s no accident that our positivity and hospitalizations are continuing to decline, this is happening because of the dedication and discipline shown by New Yorkers,” Cuomo said in a statement. “While we are encouraged by these declining numbers, we must remain vigilant.”

Still, the city’s rate of positive infections remained higher than it was when Cuomo ended indoor dining in December, as the New York Times has reported. Indoor dining has been viewed as a risk for the virus’ spread.

The city’s COVID-19 infection rate was 5.13% as of Saturday, with the average level as high as 7.26% in the Bronx, according to Cuomo’s office. By comparison, the city’s rate was 4% when Cuomo ended indoor dining Dec. 11.

Cuomo officials have said the important thing in reopening indoor dining is the overall trend of the outbreak, not the individual numbers. Infection rates have been going down in recent weeks.

Cuomo recently said city restaurants would be allowed to serve customers indoors at 25% capacity starting Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day.

Nationwide, there were nearly 27 million total COVID-19 infections as of Sunday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 460,000 American have died of the virus.

Second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine should not be delayed so more people can get first shots, the nation’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday.

“We must go with the scientific data that we’ve accumulated, and it’s really very solid,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “You can get as many people in their first dose at the same time as adhering, within reason, to the timetable of the second dose.”

Fauci was addressing epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm’s recent comments about whether to stop stockpiling second doses so more Americans can get their first shots. Vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna require two doses to be fully effective.

“One of the problems ... is that if you want to really study it to see that, the amount of time that it will take, the amount of people you would have to put into the study — by that time, we will already be in the arena of having enough [doses],” Fauci said.

He noted demand far exceeds supply following the rocky December rollout of the vaccines.

“That will get better as we get through February and into March, but that is the limiting factor,” Fauci said.

An alarming new variant of the virus is rapidly spreading throughout the U.S., according to a new study. The variant first found in Britain could become the predominant strain here, potentially causing a new surge and increasing the risk of death, the Times noted.

“There could indeed be a very serious situation developing in a matter of months or weeks,” epidemiologist Nicholas Davies of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told the Times. “These may be early signals warranting urgent investigation by public health authorities.”