NY Takes 'Targeted' Approach To Tackling Omicron Variant: Hochul

LONG ISLAND, NY — With the new COVID-19 Omicron variant sparking concerns worldwide, Gov. Kathy Hochul laid out a targeted approach for New Yorkers Monday.

"We are watching this very closely out of South Africa, watching to see whether or not there is a case here in New York," Hochul said. "I said on Friday I fully expected it to arrive. We have notification that it has arrived in Ontario, which is literally across the bridge from where I live. . .We have to deal with the realities of a highly transmissible, we believe, variant — the Omicron variant."

According to Dr. Kirsten St. George, director of Virology at the Wadsworth Lab, the variant has still not been found in New York or anywhere else in the United States.

Of the variant, Hochul said: "We know it's coming. But here's the good news, we're not defenseless. Compared to a year ago we have so much at our disposal."

Anyone over the age of 5 can be vaccinated; boosters are recommended for anyone over 18, she said. Mask use is also encouraged, as is hand washing and social distancing, she said.

"But again, the difference between this year and last year is the vaccine," Hochul said.

Hochul also discussed the predicted winter spike, with hotspot areas in western New York and the north country.

Pop-up vaccination sites are effective, with additional mass vaccination sites coming in the "tough areas," she said, adding that a post-Thanksgiving surge is expected soon.

Testing is also important, Hochul said. "We are up 42 percent in our testing from where we were a year ago. That is good news. We've been very aggressive in getting these tests out there to people. And part of our strategy dealing with the New York State workforce is to have a vaccine requirement or a test."

A steadily increasing hospitalization rate, Hochul said, keeps her up at night — as does ensuring hospitals have the capacity to handle an influx of patients.

"COVID hospitalizations are trending upward. The number of beds is going downward and that's a real problem for us," Hochul said. "We've lost about 4 percent of our bed capacity since early August — that equates to about 1,580 beds."

At the same time, hospitalizations have gone up significantly, she said. "Upstate lost 10 percent of its bed capacity, downstate lost about 2 percent. So hospitalizations are up 150 percent upstate versus downstate. Not that I'm trying to create an upstate downstate divide in our state. I don't believe in that. But just looking at the numbers — they're very troubling."

Although vaccination numbers are getting better, with 90.3 percent of New Yorkers having had at least one dose, "there are some holdouts," Hochul said. "And what I want to make sure happens is that everybody that's only had the one dose gets that second dose because you're not fully protected without the second dose. We are sending text messages. We are aggressively going after it."

The goal is to target the areas where resources are needed, Hochul said.

In regard to bed capacity, New York City is at 28 percent, with Long Island at 27 percent and the Finger Lakes at 9 percent by comparison.

Hochul said the executive order signed Friday will allow for the surge-and-flex strategy, to deploy resources where needed and to to limit non-essential, non-urgent scheduled procedures at specific hospitals that have the limited capacity.

Beginning on December 3, elective procedures at those short-staffed hospitals will cease, with the situation reassessed on January 15, she said.

Boosters at nursing homes are also a priority, she said.

And, said Hochul, additional staffing will be added to the National Guard, to help them be trained as EMTs to target areas where shortages are reflected.

Vaccinations, boosters and testing remain key, she said.

With the goal of keeping kids in schools safely, testing and returning to classrooms more easily is a priority, Hochul said.

"The state of New York is going to be very engaged with our school districts to make sure that they have all the resources they need so this can be a viable option and not an expensive one," Hochul said.

She added: "We're going to continue focusing on our approach to this new variant. It does not have to be a broad brush, one size fits all approach. We are targeted — but always have the tools to be able to deploy more widely if necessary."

Hochul said she believes the approach is how New York is going to emerge with a stronger economic recovery.

"Not to have shutdowns where shutdowns are not necessary, not to have unnecessary requirements where they're not needed — but making sure that any area that is showing vulnerabilities and we see a trajectory that is not good that we're deploying the resources intensely in a strategic way," Hochul said.