LI's positivity rates down, but experts say pandemic far from over
Medical experts cautious despite drop in COVID-19 cases
Sonia Gonzalez, of Roosevelt, receives a COVID-19 vaccination from nurse Jenni Jimenez at the Roosevelt Family Health Center of Long Island FQHC on July 8. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
The drop in seven-day average positivity rates could be from several factors, medical experts said in this story by Newsday's Bart Jones, including a state mandate for certain groups such as health care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Many people started wearing masks again as the numbers spiked, experts said, and others were required by the state to wear them, said Sean Clouston, an associate professor of public health at Stony Brook University.
"I think it’s great news and I’m cautiously optimistic about that," said Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of infectious diseases at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital.
But "every time I have said that in the past," that we have turned a corner, "I’ve been burned and it’s been at my own peril," he said. So we "can’t open the Champagne yet."
Dr. Alan Bulbin, director of infectious disease at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Roslyn, said the decline was "quite encouraging," but he also worries that we have seen a trend before with the virus — surges, followed by a decline, followed by another surge. He noted Long Island and New York State experienced a surge last year right after Halloween.
Tumbling COVID-19 case counts have been reported around the U.S., but deaths nationally have been ticking up over the past few weeks, according to this story by The Associated Press.
The chart below shows seven-day average positivity rates on Long Island recorded in recent days.
This chart shows what percentage of virus tests were positive on average each day over a seven-day period.
Explore that chart and others, and search a map of new cases and vaccination rates on our data page.
See more coronavirus headlines below.
Erin Serpico is an assistant web producer who joined Newsday in November 2018. Originally from New Jersey, she now covers community events and produces local content for newsday.com while also helping run the homepage.
