NYC COVID Cases Inch Higher As ‘Medium Risk’ Status Looms

NEW YORK CITY — Call it a COVID comeback.

New York City is on the verge of losing its hard-earned status as a “low-risk” environment for the spread of COVID-19 as cases continue to rise, officials said.

State health data shows 2,624 new COVID-19 cases detected April 15 — roughly three times the level a month before.

The steady increase — which is likely fueled by the even-more-contagious BA.2 subvariant of omicron — prompted health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan to warn New Yorkers that officials likely will change the city’s COVID-19 alert status.

“In the next few days, likely by early next week, we’re going to be entering a new level of risk, moving from a low-risk environment to a medium-risk environment on the basis of cases,” he told NY1 late last week.

The latest wave of COVID-19 infections has hit thousands of New Yorkers, including Mayor Eric Adams, who uncharacteristically spent last week in isolation as a mass shooting unfolded in a Brooklyn subway station.

COVID positivity now stands at 4.46 percent over the past seven days - a marked increase from the 1.22 percent level recorded in early March, according to city health data.

Total daily cases had dropped to under 400 several days in February as the city emerged from the omicron surge, which infections to a staggering 50,000 in a single day.

This latest surge hasn’t hit those highs, and officials seem confident — or wary — to enact stringent shutdowns. Gov. Kathy Hochul pledged Sunday to balance protecting New Yorkers with safeguarding the economy.

“I’m not going to shut it down again, you can count on that,” she said on “The Cats Roundtable,” according to the New York Post.

Likewise, Adams on Monday shot down the idea of reinstating a mask mandate. COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are still holding steady, despite the increase in overall infections, he said.

“We’re not there yet,” he said. “We are advising New Yorkers to wear a mask, but we’re not at the point of mandate right now."