As Covid cases and hospitalizations rise, Hochul presses steady, measured response

Five cases of people testing positive for the new Omicron variant – four in New York City and one in Suffolk County – were revealed Thursday evening, as well news earlier in the day that a person from Minnesota attending a conference in Manhattan last month contracted the new Covid-19 variant.

The number of New Yorkers in hospitals with Covid-19 complications jumped back above 3,000 this week. Forty-nine people died in hospitals and nursing homes Wednesday from Covid-19 complications.

Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers refuse to get vaccinated.

In the face of all that, Gov. Kathy Hochul, under criticism from her Democratic gubernatorial opponents for her Covid-19 response, urged calm and said she would take a measured, scientific approach to handling the pandemic as residents head indoors for the winter months.

“I am not prepared to shut down schools or the economy at this time … I will not over-react and send this economy spiraling out of control once again," she said Thursday in a Manhattan news conference.

Much still needs to be learned about the new Omicron variant, said Hochul and her new state health commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett, who started in one of the most challenging state government posts on Wednesday.

For now, Hochul said, contingency plans have been examined, but she isn’t ready to launch statewide closure orders, or general population vaccine mandates or even mask-wearing edicts dictated from Albany to local governments.

“That is not cause to say, ‘everybody hunker down in your Covid home and stay out of work.’ We are not there yet. I will not cause a panic among the people of this state who have already been through so much," she said.

A leading business group supports the Hochul Covid-19 approach.

“The governor is right in wanting to avoid disrupting a recovering economy, especially during the holiday season," said Heather Briccetti, president of the Business Council of New York State.

Briccetti said businesses since the pandemic’s start have been proactive in adapting to changes in government mandates in order to protect their workers and customers.

“They desperately want to avoid a repeat of April 2020," she said.

But two of Hochul’s 2022 gubernatorial opponents – Attorney General Letitia James and Rep. Thomas Suozzi – have tried to dent Hochul by suggesting her response to rising Covid-19 caseloads and hospitalizations has been  too slow.

Some upstate counties have for weeks busted through the 10 percent Covid-19 positivity rate. On Thursday in Erie County, officials reported 948 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed the day before Wednesday – the highest since the pandemic began. The Erie County health department counted an average of 474 total new cases per 100,000 county residents over the past seven days.

In all in Erie County, 4,519 new Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in the past week.

Despite the worrisome numbers in a number of upstate regions, Hochul signaled her approach to wrestling Covid-19: steady, fact-based decision-making with a heavy lean on local health leaders to determine what’s best for their communities.

Rising Covid-19 cases, especially in places like Western New York, the Finger Lakes region and elsewhere, are the blame, she said, of one group: unvaccinated people.

“It is a conscious decision not to be vaccinated and the direct result is a higher rate in those regions upstate," she said.

While Hochul has been trying to defer many Covid-19 responses to local authorities, she has had some limits. She imposed statewide mandates that health workers be vaccinated or they will lose their jobs; more in the coming days are set to see their jobs disappear when self-claimed religious exemptions by health workers are set to end after the state’s victory on the matter in federal courts.

And on Friday, the state’s week-old plan to start again to limit elective surgeries at dozens of hospitals statewide will kick in. 

On Thursday, the Minnesota health department said a Minneapolis-area adult male had tested positive for the Omicron variant after returning from a multi-day conference at the Javits Center in Manhattan. The news sent New York health officials scrambling to locate others who attended the “Anime NYC” gathering commencing on Nov. 19 to encourage them to get tested.

On Thursday evening, Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in a joint news conference, announced five new cases of the Omicron variant among people in New York.

Hochul said the Minnesota resident – like others attending the conference – had been previously vaccinated. The person had mild symptoms and has since gotten better.

Bassett said the new variant does appear to be “highly contagious."

“But it seems to have resulted in milder illnesses, but nobody knows for sure," she said. 

Hochul for weeks has been cajoling, pleading and seeking to invoke a sense of guilt among New Yorkers who will not get vaccinated. She continued that approach Thursday, but the state also increased its efforts to convince more New Yorkers to get a Covid-19 booster shot. To date, more than 2.5 million residents have gotten a booster, out of what the Hochul administration says is a current eligible list of about 6 million people.

The “Boost up, New York” campaign will include posters at grocery stores, malls and transit stations as well as an online advertising campaign.

On Thursday evening, James, the attorney general running against Hochul for governor in the 2022 elections, called for a new statewide mask mandate and an expanded effort to bring more in-home Covid tests to New Yorkers as ways to respond to rising Covid numbers and the new variant.

"We've got to think outside the box. We need bold leadership and individuals who can get things done,'' James told NY1 Thursday night.