Holidays Could Bring NY Back To Pandemic's Dark Days, Cuomo Warns

NEW YORK, NY — The Thanksgiving holiday this week will be just the beginning of a dangerous holiday season if New Yorkers are not careful to stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The governor recalled the darkest days of the coronavirus pandemic during a press briefing Monday to warn New Yorkers of the dire situation that could return as the winter holidays begin amid a second wave of the virus.

"People are talking about what's going to happen by Thanksgiving — it's not just thanksgiving," Cuomo said. "...How quickly can we forget what we just went through several months ago? How do you forget all the pain that we went through? We have to remember that if we're not careful, we will go back there."

Cuomo pointed specifically to the rising rate of hospitalizations across New York. There were 2,724 people hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Monday, up from about 1,000 three weeks ago.

The governor estimated that the hospitalizations will reach 6,000 within the next three weeks even without the "highest socialization period of the year" brought on by the holiday season.

"You put that rate of increase together with an additional increase from a high level of social activity — that is a dangerous situation," he said. "...6,000 hospitalizations is a nice way of saying more people dying."

Those rising hospitalizations have already reached a critical point in some parts of the state, Cuomo said. He announced Monday that a field hospital similar to those set up in the spring would be opening in Staten Island to help with coronavirus overflow.

Parts of Staten Island, Long Island and Upper Manhattan are set to become new "yellow zones" due to heightened coronavirus rates. Officials have also warned that all of New York City could go under "orange zone" lockdown if cases continue to rise.

New York City's seven-day average infection rate was 3.06 percent on Monday. Statewide, the daily infection rate stood at 3.08 percent.

Cuomo's warning comes as various coronavirus vaccines enter their final stages of approval, hoping to make shots available to Americans by the end of the year.

But the governor warned that the hopeful news should not stop New Yorkers from taking the second wave seriously. Any vaccine would likely take six months to reach "critical mass" in the state, he said.

He instead advised New Yorkers to become "COVID change agents" in their communities by continuing coronavirus protocols used in the first wave of the pandemic.

"Do you remember having such a loss of life that we overwhelmed the cemeteries and the funeral homes and we were storing bodies in refrigerated trucks, literally?" Cuomo said. "800 people died on one day, the emergency rooms and hospitals were like battle zones.

"That’s reality — that’s what can happen. We brought the rate down, but you know what we can bring the rate up…If our actions change, the rate will change."