New York’s weekly tally of COVID-19 cases leaped nearly 24% last week, as health officials urged people to wear masks indoors in most communities across the state to help curb outbreaks straining local hospitals.
New York reported 68,262 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending Sunday, up from 55,149 the prior week. The uptick was fueled in part by the spread of a highly contagious omicron subvariant that first emerged in Central New York and the Finger Lakes regions.
New York ranked seventh among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.
Nationally, COVID-19 cases increased about 21% from the week before, with 605,127 cases reported. Across the country, 47 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett on Friday called on people to wear masks indoors in public spaces in 45 of 62 counties deemed at high risk due to COVID-19 outbreaks straining hospitals, citing the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. That is up from 36 high-risk counties a week prior.
“As we closely monitor the numbers and as case levels remain high across the state, now is the time for every New Yorker to get vaccinated and boosted,” Bassett said in a statement.
People should also “test following exposure or symptoms, and stay home if unwell, even if you initially test negative on an at-home test,” she added, noting those who test positive should discuss treatment options, such as prescription COVID-19 antiviral pills, with a medical professional.
New York’s latest wave of COVID-19 infections began in early April, and experts suggested the true scope of outbreaks remains difficult to track in part because few counties attempt to track results of widely available at-home COVID-19 test kits.
While high COVID-19 vaccination rates, especially among older and vulnerable groups, appear to have kept hospitalizations lower than prior waves, the ongoing spring surge has seen thousands of New Yorkers hospitalized due to COVID-19.
But last week offered a glimmer of hope, as the number of likely COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals declined nearly 10%, falling to 4,414.
Vaccinations have also helped to prevent a spike in COVID-19 deaths during the current surge. But as the nation on Monday marked the grim milestone of 1 million lives lost to COVID-19, New York had reported 437 deaths, excluding New York City, since April 1, underscoring the ongoing suffering, the latest federal data show.
How COVID is spreading in New York
- In the latest week, Westchester County saw its COVID-19 cases spike 47%, reporting 3,862 cases and two deaths
- Rockland County’s cases surged 57%, reporting 1,175 cases and three deaths
- Putnam County’s cases increased 36%, reporting 357 cases and one death
- Dutchess County’s cases leaped 49%, reporting 932 cases and zero deaths
- Upstate, Monroe County’s cases increased 16%, reporting 2,275 cases and 11 deaths
- Oneida County’s cases increased 4%, reporting 829 cases and six deaths
- Broome County’s cases leaped 29%, reporting 738 cases and two deaths
Within New York, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in:
- Warren County with 488 cases per 100,000 per week.
- Erie County with 470.
- Nassau County with 469.
The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Weekly case counts rose in 51 of 62 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week’s pace were in Brooklyn and on Long Island.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
New York ranked 7th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 90.2% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 77.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Wednesday, New York reported administering another 172,494 vaccine doses, including 22,063 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 215,423 vaccine doses.
Across New York, cases fell in 11 counties, with the best declines in:
- Onondaga County, with 1,188 cases from 1,261.
- Tompkins County, with 426 cases from 473.
In New York, 158 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 125 people were reported dead.
A total of 5,297,318 people in New York have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 68,637 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 82,468,606 people have tested positive and 999,602 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
New York’s COVID-19 hospital admissions falling
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, May 15.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 4,414
- The week before that: 4,886
- Four weeks ago: 2,603
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 49,753
- The week before that: 44,912
- Four weeks ago: 37,527
Hospitals in 45 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 29 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 41 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
