66 More Covid-19 Deaths Reported in State

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday that 66 more residents have died of Covid-19, including three each in Suffolk and Nassau Counties.

  • Patient Hospitalization – 3,774 (+242)
  • Patients Newly Admitted – 502
  • Hospital Counties – 55
  • Number ICU – 718 (+37)
  • Number ICU with Intubation – 348 (+23)
  • Total Discharges – 85,808 (+252)
  • Deaths – 66
  • Total Deaths – 26,816

Of the 655,265 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

  

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

5,968

152

Allegany

1,058

16

Broome

5,448

81

Cattaraugus

1,164

29

Cayuga

917

27

Chautauqua

1,609

29

Chemung

3,109

22

Chenango

649

6

Clinton

480

19

Columbia

1,035

8

Cortland

1,082

21

Delaware

375

12

Dutchess

7,354

70

Erie

26,042

615

Essex

289

3

Franklin

271

5

Fulton

518

10

Genesee

1,076

48

Greene

710

15

Hamilton

47

1

Herkimer

731

22

Jefferson

586

20

Lewis

380

12

Livingston

738

24

Madison

963

12

Monroe

16,060

400

Montgomery

510

16

Nassau

61,162

461

Niagara

4,019

145

NYC

314,548

2,569

Oneida

5,084

114

Onondaga

10,995

191

Ontario

1,354

28

Orange

17,075

184

Orleans

634

4

Oswego

1,684

59

Otsego

649

17

Putnam

2,884

40

Rensselaer

1,795

49

Rockland

21,845

213

Saratoga

2,370

77

Schenectady

2,555

74

Schoharie

208

11

Schuyler

320

4

Seneca

320

11

St. Lawrence

874

24

Steuben

1,824

27

Suffolk

61,681

609

Sullivan

2,210

8

Tioga

1,153

4

Tompkins

1,139

21

Ulster

3,434

53

Warren

595

12

Washington

457

5

Wayne

1,175

27

Westchester

51,220

527

Wyoming

564

18

Yates

269

4


New York’s Winter Strategy

Strategy 1 – Continue and Strengthen New York’s Targeted Micro-Cluster Strategy while Managing Hospital Capacity to Enhance and Equalize Care
Since Governor Cuomo first launched New York’s micro-cluster strategy in mid-October, it has proved effective in identifying targeted areas with high infection rates and implementing additional restrictions to reduce viral spread in the micro-cluster area. This approach has allowed state and local health officials to target resources, has encouraged community members to take greater action to reduce viral spread, and helped prevent the need for larger, regional shutdowns which impact all aspects of life and the economy.

Under New York’s Winter COVID-19 Plan, this strategy will be strengthened through the utilization of additional, hospital-related metrics to provide a clearer picture of where a particular zone stands in the fight against COVID and how each neighborhood, municipality, and other geographic area contributes to daily hospital admissions due to COVID. Under this improved strategy, the New York State Department of Health will include factors such as regional hospital bed capacity, ICU capacity, staffing ratios, and daily hospital admissions as part of the analysis and metrics used to determine which geographic areas qualify as micro-cluster zones. In addition to the 3 existing micro-cluster zone levels (Yellow, Orange and Red), New York will also add a new ‘Emergency Stop’ level, which will effectively put that area under the NY on Pause guidelines, if needed to preserve hospital capacity. Hospital metrics associated with these zones will be identified in the next week to 10 days, once data from the Thanksgiving holiday is received and analyzed.

The Department of Health has initiated emergency hospital measures to prepare the state’s hospital system for an expected surge in new admissions over the upcoming weeks. Specifically, these measures include:

Hospital systems must begin to identify retired nurses and doctors to bolster staff;
Hospital systems in Erie County must suspend elective surgeries to create new bed capacity for COVID patients;
Hospital systems must begin balancing patient loads across their individual hospital facilities;
Prepare plans to utilize emergency field hospitals;
Prepare plans to increase hospital bed capacity by 50 percent;
Prepare plans to implement statewide ‘Surge and Flex’ operations (similar to load balancing, but patient shifts would occur across all hospital systems, as opposed to within individual hospital systems)
Prepare plans to staff emergency field hospitals; and
Confirm availability of resources in existing stockpiles.
The Department of Health will also be launching a new, statewide hospital metric tracking system.

Strategy 2 – Increase and Balance Testing Resources and Availability
Under the Winter Plan, New York State will take steps to increase the amount of testing available statewide, but do so in a way that ensures distribution is balanced with testing sufficient across different segments of the population, including:

Healthcare workers;
Nursing homes;
Schools;
Essential workers;
Business professionals;
Personal services testing; and
General population, returning students and travelers, etc.

Strategy 3 – Keep Schools Open Safely
One of the most critical aspects of managing the COVID-19 pandemic for governments and parents alike has been answering the question of how and when schools should remain open. On that point, experts from around the globe have determined that as long as a school’s infection rate is under control and remains under the infection rate of the community at large, schools should remain open, particularly for students in K-8. Not only does school provide parents with support in terms of childcare, it provides a regularity to life which has been missing for so many children throughout this pandemic.

Under New York’s Winter Plan, efforts will be focused on keeping K-8 and Special Education schools open as long as it can be done safely. The first step will be to establish sustainable, ongoing testing in schools so that they can continue operating in the long term. As part of this, schools located in Orange and Red zones will be required to conduct weekly testing. Schools in Orange Zones will be required to test 20 percent of in person students, faculty, and staff over the course of a month and schools in Red Zones will be required to test 30 percent of in person students, faculty, and staff over a month. Pool testing will be allowed as well.

These protocols represent the minimum standard required for schools to stay open and the state may adjust requirements for specific districts based on any special circumstances which may arise. While local districts are able to close at levels under the state’s mandatory closure rule, they are urged to keep K-8 schools open whenever it is safe.

Strategy 4 – Prevent Viral Spread from Small Gatherings
Small gatherings have now been identified as the number one spreader of COVID-19, with at least 65 percent of all cases coming from these settings. Now that we are in holiday season, behavioral shifts must be observed by New Yorkers to mitigate the spread. Sixteen states, including New York, have already limited gatherings to no more than 10 people, with Kentucky recently moving to limit gatherings to no more than 8 people. While government’s ability to monitor small gatherings is limited, public education on the safety concerns of small gatherings is crucial. As New York State did with public campaigns urging mask compliance, New York State will be launching a public education campaign to highlight how small gatherings can lead to the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Strategy 5 – Operationalize an Equitable and Safe Vaccination Program
While a vaccine is expected to be released in the coming weeks, it will be months before a critical mass of available vaccinations for the general public will be available. As the state builds its plan to distribute vaccinations, it will be founded on three main pillars:

Fairness;
Equity; and
Safety.
These pillars, as well as outreach to the Black and Brown communities with poor health outcomes who have been hit hardest by the pandemic, are critical to ensuring a fair distribution of the vaccine.

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