The increased rate of Covid-19 infection could lead to a designation as a yellow zone, meaning more restrictions in parts of Long Island, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo warned Sunday.
“Unless they drastically change the trajectory rate, they will go into those zones this week,” he said. Areas designated as yellow zones would face restrictions on mass gatherings to 25 people maximum, 50% capacity for houses of worship and a mandatory of 20% testing in schools, among other limits.
“Between now and January, there will be increased social interaction, and the consequence, I believe, will be an increase in the rate of cases. The only question of how much and how fast is up to you,” Cuomo said. “You can change what you do, and you can change how your community acts. We have several communities across the state in the warning track to yellow zones or become red or orange zones this week and while a vaccine is expected to come in December or January, we cannot let our guard down. The vaccine will be first distributed for high-need populations, but it will be six months at a minimum before it is widely available, so we simply cannot afford six months of a sustained increase in cases. The post-holiday increase is purely a function of what we do and New Yorkers have already proven their toughness, but as Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches, we need to stay the course. If we all continue to wash our hands, wear our masks and avoid gatherings, we will be able to keep our infection rate down and keep New Yorkers safe.”
Cuomo has been focused on micro-cluster outbreaks around New York State in recent years, using a color-coded system to explain where rates have been hight for an extended period of time. New York City, areas north of the city and other communities around the state have been under extra restrictions as a result. He has relatedly said that New York State overall is doing well compared to other states, but warned about pockets of infection.
To be designated a yellow zone region, Long Island would have to have a seven-day rolling average positivity above 2.5 percent for 10 days, and have 10 or more daily cases per 100,000 residents on a seven-day average.
“I would not be shocked if they said on Jan. 10, Jan. 15, we’re up at 7, 8, 9,10 percent. That could very easily happen if we are irresponsible”
The Centers for Disease Control, Cuomo and other officials around the country have been warning for weeks of the danger of the epidemic spreading because people are indoors more as the weather gets colder and as people gather for Thanksgiving celebrations.
The zones
The defined area may be designated as requiring to be placed into a focus zone: a Red Zone (with accompanying Orange and/or Yellow buffer zones) or an Orange Zone (with potential for accompanying yellow buffer zone) or solely a Yellow zone. In densely populated urban areas, two buffer zones – an Orange Buffer Zone and a Yellow Buffer Zone may be required.
• Red Zone — Micro-Cluster: A “Red Zone” focus area is put in place to contain spread from a specific, defined geographic area.
• Orange Zone — Warning/Buffer: An Orange Zone area either is put in place primarily in densely populated urban areas as a tight buffer zone around a Red Zone micro-cluster (“Orange Buffer Zone”) area OR is implemented independently as a focus area based on the below metrics (“Orange Warning Zone”). The purpose of an Orange Buffer Zone is to 1) restrict activity to prevent further spread from Red Zone area; 2) provide a defined geographic area where metrics can be monitored daily to ensure COVID is not spreading beyond the Red Zone.
• Yellow Zone — Precautionary/Buffer: A “Yellow Zone” area either is put in place as a broader buffer area to ensure COVID outbreak is not spreading into the broader community (“Yellow Buffer Zone”) OR is implemented independently based on the below metrics (“Yellow Precautionary Zone”). The purpose of a Yellow Buffer Zone is to 1) restrict some activity to help prevent further spread from Red and/or Orange Warning Zone area; 2) provide a larger defined geographic area where metrics can be monitored daily to ensure COVID is not spreading beyond the Red Zone or Orange Warning Zone.
Long Island’s rate hit 3.23 percent today.
Each region’s percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:
|
REGION |
THURSDAY |
FRIDAY |
SATURDAY |
CURRENT 7-DAY AVERAGE |
|
Capital Region |
1.9% |
2.4% |
2.0% |
2.32% |
|
Central New York |
3.2% |
3.5% |
2.6% |
3.43% |
|
Finger Lakes |
3.2% |
3.8% |
2.5% |
3.34% |
|
Long Island |
2.9% |
2.9% |
3.5% |
3.23% |
|
Mid-Hudson |
3.4% |
3.7% |
3.3% |
3.75% |
|
Mohawk Valley |
2.3% |
3.3% |
2.1% |
2.50% |
|
New York City |
2.4% |
2.6% |
2.3% |
2.54% |
|
North Country |
1.6% |
2.2% |
1.3% |
1.73% |
|
Southern Tier |
0.9% |
1.2% |
1.5% |
1.16% |
|
Western New York |
4.1% |
5.7% |
6.0% |
5.06% |
|
County |
Total Positive |
New Positive |
|
Albany |
5,108 |
95 |
|
Allegany |
846 |
39 |
|
Broome |
4,859 |
67 |
|
Cattaraugus |
877 |
35 |
|
Cayuga |
704 |
6 |
|
Chautauqua |
1,392 |
30 |
|
Chemung |
2,647 |
76 |
|
Chenango |
563 |
12 |
|
Clinton |
418 |
6 |
|
Columbia |
962 |
10 |
|
Cortland |
884 |
14 |
|
Delaware |
309 |
9 |
|
Dutchess |
6,634 |
65 |
|
Erie |
21,075 |
521 |
|
Essex |
248 |
2 |
|
Franklin |
231 |
2 |
|
Fulton |
432 |
3 |
|
Genesee |
758 |
23 |
|
Greene |
626 |
4 |
|
Hamilton |
37 |
1 |
|
Herkimer |
575 |
11 |
|
Jefferson |
418 |
11 |
|
Lewis |
300 |
0 |
|
Livingston |
583 |
6 |
|
Madison |
797 |
2 |
|
Monroe |
12,406 |
314 |
|
Montgomery |
378 |
2 |
|
Nassau |
56,706 |
437 |
|
Niagara |
3,152 |
64 |
|
NYC |
294,765 |
1,930 |
|
Oneida |
4,081 |
43 |
|
Onondaga |
9,160 |
213 |
|
Ontario |
1,087 |
15 |
|
Orange |
15,872 |
73 |
|
Orleans |
561 |
7 |
|
Oswego |
1,187 |
23 |
|
Otsego |
508 |
3 |
|
Putnam |
2,362 |
6 |
|
Rensselaer |
1,515 |
21 |
|
Rockland |
20,602 |
91 |
|
Saratoga |
1,904 |
29 |
|
Schenectady |
2,073 |
11 |
|
Schoharie |
169 |
3 |
|
Schuyler |
262 |
9 |
|
Seneca |
243 |
3 |
|
St. Lawrence |
667 |
9 |
|
Steuben |
1,557 |
32 |
|
Suffolk |
56,339 |
532 |
|
Sullivan |
2,078 |
13 |
|
Tioga |
1,024 |
11 |
|
Tompkins |
904 |
28 |
|
Ulster |
3,023 |
19 |
|
Warren |
542 |
5 |
|
Washington |
422 |
4 |
|
Wayne |
912 |
11 |
|
Westchester |
46,841 |
372 |
|
Wyoming |
401 |
4 |
|
Yates |
228 |
4 |