NYC Expected To Enter High COVID Alert In Coming Days, Officials Say

NEW YORK CITY — New York City is poised to enter a "high" COVID-19 alert in the "coming days," officials said.

A months-long steady rise in coronavirus cases prompted officials Monday to not only warn the city soon could enter a state of higher risk of infection, but also to wear masks indoors.

But the mask warning only stands as a reminder of an existing "strong recommendation" rather than a new strict mandate.

New Yorkers effectively are being encouraged to take precautions on their own, with the help of an additional 16.5 million at-home COVID-19 tests and one million high-quality masks that will be distributed across the five boroughs over the next month.

"We don’t anticipate that this wave will last much longer, so hang in there, New York City," said Ashwin Vasan, the city's health commissioner, in a statement. "If we all do our part, we can bring case numbers down in the coming weeks and get ready for a wonderful summer."

A batch of new, even-more contagious omicron variants appears to be driving the latest spike in COVID-19 cases.

The city is averaging 3,613 new cases a day — an indicator that has been increasing for weeks, according to health data. And positivity is hovering above roughly 8 percent, city data shows.

New detected cases peaked last week with 5,985 infections reported in a single day, state health data shows.

The actual level could be much higher, as the city's and state's data doesn't account for all home tests. But even as cases could be higher, it appears the latest wave so far isn't causing an uptick in severe illnesses and deaths.

Hospitalizations stand at 54 a day on a weekly average — an indicator marked by city officials as "stable," according to health data.

And confirmed deaths — which stand at 3 per day on a weekly average — are officially considered to be "decreasing," according to city health data.

But many New Yorkers, especially those who are unvaccinated or have underlying health conditions, remain at risk, Vasan said.

Masking, at-home testing and COVID-19 treatments can help fight against the virus, Mayor Eric Adams said. He announced Monday that millions of masks and tests will be distributed at 1,600 public schools and among more than 1,000 community organizations, libraries, cultural institutions, houses of worship and elected offices.

He stopped short, however, of committing to mandating mask wearing.

"We’re not at the point of mandating masks," he said.

"We have more tools so we don’t have to fight the war we had before — this is a new war and we’re going to use all those tools to do so"