The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Long Island has more than doubled in the past month, with cases rising slowly but steadily across the region. It reflects the trend of the summer season.
The increase in hospitalizations, partially driven by the new subvariant, still pales in comparison to the worst of the pandemic. Total hospitalizations on Long Island stood at 157 as of Friday, compared with 447 a year ago and more than 4,000 in April 2020. The number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 on Long Island has risen to 67 as of July 14.
“I’m not panicking, but I would be silly if I wasn’t watching these numbers closely. I’m sure we’re seeing a lot of cluster infections,” North said. Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology at Wells University, said. health.
He further added: I don’t think anything dramatic will happen until October or November. ”
Since July 14, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients on Long Island has surged from 46 to 106, according to Northwell.
Ferber said the positive rate for those tested in Northwell’s GoHealth emergency care system jumped to 25%. Experts warn that the overall positive rate is vastly underestimated because most test results are not reported to the government and many people do not get tested.
New subvariant, EG. 5 and FL. Experts say 1.5.1 is partly why the number of infected people is rising. Both are descendants of the omicron variant.
Infectious disease experts say other factors are also at play. Susan Donnellan, Ph.D., medical director of medical epidemiology at Stony Brook Medicine, said summer heatwaves have pushed more people to use air conditioning indoors, which could increase the number of COVID-19 cases. said there is.
Many people either haven’t had a booster shot or only had it months ago, making them more susceptible to severe illness from the virus, he said.
Donnellan also said that “the majority of the public has really given up on anything related to masking and other types of mitigation measures.”
Experts say new booster shots for the latest variant are in development, but are expected to take several weeks to arrive.
Donnellan said to people returning to school and office work after the summer, “It’s a shame we didn’t get our new and updated boosters in time.”
Some might try to get their hands on the latest boosters, but Faber recommended waiting until October at the latest to get the new ones.
Dr. Alan Bulbin, Director of Infectious Diseases at Catholic Health St. Francis Hospital Heart Center in Roslyn, said the current increase in hospitalizations and infections is more of a “swell” than a “surge” and “certainly It’s not overwhelming,” he said. at this point. ”
He said people should consider their own health status when deciding how best to deal with “swells.”
Elderly people, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, or those with other health problems should avoid crowded gatherings, who they are with, wear masks, keep their distance, and preferably outdoors. Start being a little more vigilant about meeting up,” he said. He said.
For example, wearing masks in grocery stores might be a good idea, Balbin added.
Even if the number of cases starts to rise further, Bulbin said health care workers are far more experienced in dealing with COVID-19 now than they were in 2020, so the surge in cases should be contained. said he hopes to be able to
Donnelon said part of the lesson from the recent outbreak is that Covid-19 isn’t going away anytime soon.
“I think it will become part of our living situation in the near future,” she says.
State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said: “As the number of COVID-19 cases in the state rises again, we remind all New Yorkers that COVID-19 is a treatable disease. I want it,’ he said. “The COVID-19 test is easy to use and highly accurate. If you test positive, talk to your health care provider about treatment, so you can avoid hospitalization and death.”
