NY breaks another single-day record for COVID cases as surge continues

Omicron variant shuts down Broadway shows

New York's COVID numbers hit yet another new record Saturday, with nearly 22,000 people testing positive for COVID-19 and forcing changes and cancellations from Broadway to SNL.

NEW YORK - The COVID-19 surge in New York is breaking records once again, as Governor Kathy Hochul announced Saturday that nearly 22,000 people in the state had tested positive for COVID-19, just one day after the state set a new daily record for COVID cases.

"This is not like the beginning of the pandemic. We are prepared for the winter surge because we have the tools at our disposal," Hochul said in a press release. "Getting vaccinated, getting the booster and wearing a mask are critical to avoiding getting seriously ill from COVID-19, so don't take a chance."

The new record high of 21,908 out of 290,930 tests conducted means the state's positivity rate now stands at 7.53%, with hospitalizations jumping by 70 to 3,909.

While the soaring COVID-19 case numbers, long testing lines, and event cancellations might feel a bit like déjà vu, so far New York City hospitals aren’t seeing a repeat of the surges that swamped emergency rooms early in the pandemic.

The Rockettes on Friday canceled remaining performances of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, citing "increasing challenges from the pandemic," lines at some testing sites in the city stretched around the block and at-home tests remained hard to come by, or pricier than usual.

Meanwhile, Saturday Night Live announced on social media Saturday afternoon that the night's episode would tape without a live audience and with only limited cast and crew "due to the recent spike in the Omicron variant and out of an abundance of caution."

But new hospitalizations and deaths — so far — are averaging well below their spring 2020 peak and even where they were this time last year, during a winter wave that came as vaccinations were just beginning, city data shows.

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Mount Sinai Health System’s emergency rooms are seeing about 20% more patients — with all conditions — in recent days, according to Dr. Eric Legome, who oversees two of the network’s seven ERs. But at least so far, "we’re seeing a lot more treat-and-release" coronavirus patients than in earlier waves, he said.

Hospital capacity concerns across region

Hospital capacity has become a major concern once again as COVID cases spike across the region.

Many are looking for tests, help with mild or moderate symptoms, or monoclonal antibody treatment, but very few require oxygen or a hospital stay, said Legome. He runs the ERs at Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside.

Hospital admissions and deaths tend to rise and fall weeks after cases do. But Dr. Fritz François, the chief of hospital operations for NYU Langone Health, says so far, "we’re actually seeing something different" than in previous surges.

For one thing, COVID-19 patients are going home a bit quicker, he said.

NYU Langone has seen a small uptick in patients with COVID-19, now totaling about 80 in its several hospitals in New York City and nearby Long Island. That’s about 80% less than the tally at the top of last winter’s wave, François said.

NYU Langone keeps refreshing its plans to handle a surge if it comes, but such preparedness is just "the new normal," he said.

At the sprawling Northwell Health system, too, "we’ll be prepared to do it again if it happens," but vaccinations and nearly two years of experience make for a different picture now, said Dr. John D’Angelo, the chief of integrated operations.

"I’m confident we’ll get through this, but there are some challenges this time around that I think we’re going to have to think through a bit carefully," he said.

Among them: The possibility of more staffers being out sick or in quarantine as omicron spreads at a time when many hospitals around the country have been short on staff, for various reasons. Northwell dismissed about 1,400 people — about 2% of its staff — early this fall for refusing to get vaccinated. Still, D’Angelo said it has enough staff to handle its projected needs.

Northwell, the state’s largest private healthcare system with nearly two dozen hospitals in and around New York City, had about 400 COVID-19-positive patients as of Friday — up from around 300 a few weeks ago, but a fraction of the 1,350 at one point last January, to say nothing of the 3,500 in early spring 2020.

About a quarter are vaccinated, up from about 10-15% a month ago, mostly people with underlying health problems, D’Angelo said.

The NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system said it has seen "a slow but steady" increase in COVID-19 admissions, but all its hospitals are operating normally.

With the Associated Press.