State plans to expand testing, vaccination efforts, governor says

The state plans to expand COVID-19 testing and vaccination efforts in the battle against the rapidly spreading omicron and delta variants, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday, as positivity numbers continued to climb.

Late Monday evening, federal health officials said the omicron variant now accounts for 73% of new COVID-19 infections across the United States, eclipsing delta.

On Long Island, the seven-day average of new positive COVID-19 cases — 9.84% — was the highest in the state for the second day in a row, according to state data. And Hochul said New York State "broke another record" with 23,391 new cases on Sunday.

"Testing is a high, high [priority] because what we anticipate is more and more people are going to be testing positive," Hochul said during a visit to a vaccination site in upstate Warsaw on Monday morning. "We want them to, even if they're testing at home, just stay home, do not go out. Don't go to work. Don't go see your family. That's how we can start isolating the spread."

New York is set to receive 5 million at-home COVID-19 testing kits, with another 5 million on the way in January, state Director of Operations Kathryn Garcia said during Hochul's afternoon news conference in Manhattan. Garcia said New York is calling on the federal government to invoke the Defense Production Act to speed up production of the over-the-counter tests.

The state will open seven new testing sites the week of Dec. 27, including one in Nassau County, according to Jackie Bray, acting commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. The exact location was not immediately available.

Existing state-run mass vaccination sites also will start offering testing, she said. Long Island's two state-run mass vaccination sites are located at Stony Brook in Suffolk County and SUNY Old Westbury in Nassau.

Hochul said New Yorkers soon will be able to obtain the at-home testing kits through an online portal. Officials said a launch date and details will be available at the end of the week, but people will swab themselves with an at-home PCR test, mail the sample in a prepaid envelope and receive results within 48 hours.

Kits will be distributed to schools and health-care facilities, as well as local county governments, where they will reach the public in places such as libraries. The governor said it's vital the tests get into the hands of parents to make sure their kids can return to school after the holidays.

"My number one job is make sure there's ample supply [of at-home tests]," Hochul said. "So, when people are not feeling well, they don't have to be scouring their community, trying to get a testing kit or find a facility that can test them."

Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said his agency received 60,249 boxes of iHealth rapid test kits on Monday, with two tests per box.

"The state requested that we prioritize K-12 schools. We are currently reaching out to schools for distribution to students and staff," he said in a statement.

The White House had no immediate comment on calls from Hochul and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to use the Defense Production Act. President Joe Biden, on Dec. 2, already had committed to its use as an emergency measure.

"This winter we are going to make free at-home tests more available to Americans than ever before," Biden said in his winter plan to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. "To better detect and control the delta variant, I made testing more available, affordable, and convenient. I used the Defense Production Act to increase production of rapid tests, including at-home tests."

Getting fully vaccinated and receiving a booster shot is still the best defense against COVID-19, said Dr. Aaron Glatt, chair of the Department of Medicine and chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in Oceanside. He said fully vaccinated and boosted people who contract COVID-19 still have a lower chance of getting seriously ill or being hospitalized.

"Everybody who reaches that six-month mark should get a booster," he said. "There are essentially no exceptions to that rule, and that’s 16 years of age and up."

Pigott said the demand for boosters, as well as first and second doses of vaccines, has been "growing considerably" over the past two months.

"We have added dozens of clinics to meet the demand," he said in a statement. "We are currently dispensing on average 200-300 doses at our clinics at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge and another 100 doses, on average, at each of our pop-up clinics held throughout Suffolk County."

As of Dec. 20, more than 3.9 million booster/additional COVID-19 doses had been administered across the state, with more than 552,000 given over the last seven days, according to the state Department of Health.

On Long Island, 79,907 booster/additional doses have been administered over the last seven days, for a total of 580,353. Overall, 54,531 booster/additional doses have been administered at SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Old Westbury.

Of the state's 23,391 new positives on Sunday, 1,947 were in Nassau and 1,696 in Suffolk.

While the state's total is the highest recorded number of positive cases since the start of the pandemic, it likely does not represent the highest number, since testing was not readily available during the first surge in early 2020.

"This is not March of 2020. It is not even December of 2020," Hochul said. "We did not have vaccinations and boosters and the knowledge we have now … we have to just meet this moment with action and not fear."

Meanwhile, Hochul said state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett has tested positive for COVID-19 through a rapid test, but is doing well. Bassett is fully vaccinated and had her booster shot, Hochul said. She is awaiting the results of a PCR test to confirm the rapid COVID-19 test.

In addition, Hochul pledged $65 million to help county governments enforce mask protocols. She said localities can decide how to use the money, but some options could be purchasing masks and signs for businesses, and setting up call centers for people to file complaints.

With Cecilia Dowd, Michael Gormley, AP

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By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.