New York State is expanding its guidelines for reopening nursing homes to visitors, it was announced Monday during Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's update on the state's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard A. Zucker said that the state will focus on the rate of Covid-19Â infections for individual counties across the state, breaking them down to those with a less than 5% Covid-19 infection rate, for which no testing will be required, though still encouraged; counties with a 5% to 10% infection rate, which will require testing within 72 hours; and counties with an infection rate of greater than 10%, for which no visitation will be allowed, except for compassionate care.
"The other reason you would have to restrict visitation is if there have been cases within 14 days," Zucker said.
For those nursing homes in counties where the Covid-19 infection rate is within the 5% to 10% category, Zucker said that, instead of testing, if a visitor has had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and it has been 14 days since their second dose, and they are still within 90 days of that second dose, they won't be required to take a test, even though testing is still encouraged.
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Meanwhile, the governor noted that President Biden has made it a national priority to open schools, which also is a priority for the state.
As a result, Cuomo said, the state will start asking local districts to report on how many of its teachers have been vaccinated, how many are teaching in classrooms, as opposed to virtually, and what percentage of teachers are currently teaching in classrooms.
Beginning Wednesday, he said, districts will be required to report these numbers on a weekly basis.
"Teachers are very concerned that before they return to the classroom, they're vaccinated," Cuomo said. "I think we need clarity on that matter, because opening schools is very important, as we know. Opening schools is very important for children and it has economic consequences beyond that."
The governor said that state is being very aggressive in what he called social vaccinations.
He noted that the coronavirus has hit the African-American, Hispanic and poorer communities harder than other communities that have been affected by the virus across the state.
In the disadvantaged communities, he said there has been less testing for the virus, higher positivity rates for Covid-19 and higher death rates than in other communities.
Cuomo said that, with regard to the vaccine, there has been a hesitancy based on a lack of trust in health systems, especially among those in the Black community, and, historically, for good reasons.
"We're working very hard to combat that, making special efforts above and beyond the vaccination process," Cuomo said.
He said that the state is working with the federal government on an initiative aimed at providing social equity vaccinations in vulnerable communities, starting on Wednesday in Brooklyn, before it gets to Buffalo and other areas of the state.
Cuomo said surrounding ZIP codes that are most heavily impacted will have priority appointments.
The site in Brooklyn will be the largest vaccination site in the state, performing 21,000 vaccinations per week and 3,000 vaccinations per day, seven days a week.
On Monday, 142,000 tests were done across the state, with a daily positivity rate of 4.3%, the governor said. Cuomo said 89 New Yorkers died of Covid-19, while 5,800 were hospitalized with the virus, with 1,100 in intensive-care units and 700 who had to be intubated.
Cuomo said that the latest seven-day positivity rate for Western New York was 2.4%, compared to the statewide positivity rate of 3.5%.
"What these numbers should say to you is that behavior makes a difference," Cuomo said.
"Western New York was at the top of the list for a period of time," he added. "A community's behavior matters, and once they get that, you can see how that reduces the positivity rate, but it's up to their behavior."
The governor said that, to date, 3.75 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered, with 2.4 million first doses and 1.3 million second doses given, representing 93% of completed doses received.
"We had serious weather delays, not just in New York State, but across the country," Cuomo said.
Those delays will begin to be felt this week, he added.
