The infection rate in New York Cities 5 boro’s has climbed steadily as has numbers around the state…..
New York City’s public schools could close as early as Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday, as the coronavirus infection rate continues to teeter ever closer to the city-set 3% threshold for closure.
“People should get ready,” de Blasio told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer. He counseled parents to have a plan for the rest of November if the schools need to close.
The city’s latest infection rate, calculated as a seven-day average, is 2.83%, de Blasio said.
“That is a high number,” de Blasio said.
“That number has gotten quite close to 3%, and we are making preparations as a result, in case that number does exceed 3%, and in the event that we do have to temporarily close our schools,” he said.
The infection rate was reported on Thursday to be 2.6%….
Long Island infections have also climbed…
State figures show 4,797 new COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday, including 321 in Suffolk County and 322 in Nassau County. An additional 29 New Yorkers died from COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 26,055.
The statewide positive testing rate was 2.95%, including in so-called micro-clusters around the state, which are oversampled and where cases have spiked and the rate is 4.86%. The statewide rate without the micro-clusters was 2.53% on Wednesday.
“COVID is raging nationally, setting record numbers of cases and hospitalizations with each passing day,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement. “While New York is doing better than just about any state in the United States, we are not immune from the national trend …(If) we stay smart through the holidays, through Thanksgiving, through Christmas, through Hanukkah, we’ll keep it under control.”
The positivity rate on Long Island was 3.4% on Sunday, the first time it topped 3% since May. On Monday it was 3.5%, followed by 3.3% on Tuesday and 3.1% on Wednesday. If the 7-day rolling average positivity rate remains above 3% for 10 days, parts of Long Island could be put into one of the orange zones under the state’s micro-cluster plan.
That designation brings tougher restrictions such as closing gyms and other nonessential high-risk businesses and mandating schools operate remotely with no in-person classes….