LI Ranks 2nd In State Positivity, In Top 3 For Hospitalizations

LONG ISLAND, NY — Although the coronavirus positivity rate is leveling off statewide after the holiday spike, Long Island has emerged as a "concerning" new region, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.

With the state's positivity rate standing at 6.8 percent, Long Island is now one of the two top highest regions in New York at 7.47 percent; the only region higher is the Mohawk Valley at 7.70 percent.

In terms of COVID-19 patients hospitalized, Long Island is also in the red, one of the top three highest regions statewide: Long Island has 1,671 hospitalizations or 0.06 percent, the Mohawk Valley is also at 0.06 percent with 297 people hospitalized, and the Finger Lakes is also at 0.06 percent with 741 individuals in the hospital, Cuomo said.

"Long Island is new to the list and concerning," he said.

In addition, with four new cases of the more highly transmissible U.K. strain identified in New York, two were in Suffolk County and the other two were associated with the coronavirus cluster associated with a jewelry store in Saratoga Sprngs.

LI has lowest percentage of vaccinated hospital workers

The percentage of hospital workers vaccinated statewide stands at 65 percent; with herd immunity attained at between 70 percent to 90 percent, Cuomo said it is critical that hospital workers be vaccinated. If doctors and nurses get sick, you lose hospital capacity, he said.

The rate of vaccination for hospital workers is "uneven," Cuomo said —and Long Island comes in lowest statewide at 61 percent, he said.

Overall, statewide, a total of 1,156,079 vaccinations have been administered, with 1,032,291 first doses and 123,778 second doses, he said.

On the whole, the percentage of vaccination distribution is way up, with 86 percentages of dosages in arms, he said. Long Island has distributed 90 percent of its allocation, he said. Overall, there are 145,780 first doses remaining; an average of 65,000 vaccinations are administered a day.

At this rate, the supply will be exhausted in two to three days, Cuomo said.

As dosages come in, New York will see a pattern of running out and waiting for the following week's allocation, he said; Cuomo urged new President Joe Biden to ramp up distribution as supply is key.

As it stands, with 300,000 doses arriving per week, it would take six months to vaccinate those currently eligible and seven-and-a-half months to vaccinate if only 250,000 dosages are delivered per week.

Although there are 1,200 vaccine distributors statewide, with others waiting to come online, there is more distribution than product, Cuomo said. He said statewide vaccination centers should not schedule appointments for which they do not have a definitive allocation, he said.

As allocations move faster, the supply becomes more scarce and it is important that pharmacies continue to focus on ages 65 and up, hospitals, on health care workers, and health departments, on essential workers, with those groups self-administering where possible, Cuomo said. It's imperative to be fair, he said.

This article originally appeared on the Southampton Patch