Data shows 60% spike in Long Island COVID-19 cases
Relaxed mask mandates and the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant have both contributed to a spike in Long Island COVID-19 cases, health experts said. Credit: AP/Matt Rourke
The number of Long Island COVID-19 cases increased nearly 60% last week over the previous seven days, a trend health experts attribute to relaxed mask restrictions and the highly contagious BA. 2 subvariant.
Nassau reported 2,629 positive tests for the virus between April 4 and Sunday, compared to 1,648 in the previous seven days, a 59.52% spike, according to state data. Suffolk tallied 1,887 positive tests in the same timespan, a jump of 58.88% over the previous week.
With the ending of COVID-19 restrictions, an increase in cases was expected but “the rise is faster than I thought it would be,” said Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of infectious diseases and chief of public health and epidemiology for Northwell Health.
A sign of increased cases in other major cities was reflected in Philadelphia's move Monday to reinstate its indoor mask mandate. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia have risen more than 50% in 10 days, the threshold at which the city’s guidelines call for people to wear masks indoors, city health officials said.
For Long Island and the rest of New York, there are encouraging signs within the numbers, according to Farber said.
The number of New Yorkers dying of COVID-19 remains relatively low, he said, and hospitalizations have yet to significantly increase. In mid-January, the peak of the omicron's variant's Long Island surge, New York State's daily death toll reached 196, its highest level in nearly a year. For the month of January, 51,731 cases were reported statewide.
Across the state Sunday, 13 people died from complications related to the virus, including one in Suffolk County. Long Island hospitals reported 70 patients admitted for COVID-19 through Sunday, according to the latest data.
Even with COVID-19 cases on the rise, those who tested positive "are not terribly ill, and very few of them are winding up in the hospital, which is a reflection of the pretty good immunity that we got from omicron,” Farber said.
The latest state data is likely an undercount of the true number of virus cases as some people don’t test at all, and at-home test results are not required to be reported to the state, said Sean Clouston, associate professor of public health at Stony Brook University
“If we are reporting four to 500 cases in Suffolk County a day that means that there's probably over 1,000,” Clouston said. “Act as though we're in that situation rather than in a situation where everything is safe.”
Clouston noted the BA. 2 surge in the United Kingdom peaked at rates lower than the original omicron variant and officials anticipate the same results locally.
Statewide, positive cases increased 39.9% week-over-week. There were 24,300 positive tests reported in the week ending April 3 and 33,996 tallied for the week ending April 10.
Farber recommended testing for anyone experiencing symptoms and before attending gatherings. Everyone should weigh their risk of socializing against variables like age, vaccination status and underlying health issues, he said.
“Each individual has to look at these numbers and decide what they're comfortable doing and what they're not comfortable doing,” Farber said.
with AP
Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.
