New York City health experts warn the pace of reopening is too fast, as 25 of the city’s zip codes report a COVID positivity rate of 10% or more.
New variants that could be more virulent than the original now emerging in the city could also be contributing to the spread of the virus.
Mark Levine, a member of the city council and chairman of the New York City health committee, said on Sunday that the last time the city recorded such positive test rates was shortly before the winter surge in case.
“This time we have the vaccination on our side… and variants that work against us,” he said.
“This adds to a precarious situation for the coming weeks. “
Staten Island, southern Brooklyn, and parts of the Bronx and Queens were the hardest hit.
Manhattan has been relatively spared when it comes to the hardest hit areas of the five boroughs.
New Yorkers on Sunday are seen in Washington Square Park in Manhattan, as COVID lifts
–
The warm weather drew crowds outside, seen along western Manhattan on Sunday
–
Twenty-seven percent of adults in New York City have received at least one vaccine, and 13 percent have received both, according to city health data.
A year ago, the city was on the verge of becoming the global epicenter of the virus.
Catering capacity inside the city rose to 50% and 75% statewide on Friday, with some health experts warning that the pace of the reopening is too fast, especially since new variants emerge.
A Brooklyn resident with no travel history was listed on Saturday as the first person in New York City to have a confirmed case of the Brazilian variant of COVID-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office said.
The Brazilian variant is considered to be more contagious than the first version of the coronavirus. Current vaccines may not be as effective against it as earlier viral variants.
Meanwhile, Dr Scott Gottlieb has warned that a New York variant of COVID-19 could re-infect virus survivors and those vaccinated.
The former Food and Drug Administration commissioner spoke to CBS’s Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” about the variant known as B.1.526 and said it is not yet known where it is causing an increase in cases in parts of New York City.
He warned: “What we don’t understand with 1.526 is whether people are re-infected or not and whether people who could have been vaccinated are now infected with it.
“The question is whether 1,526 is responsible for some of the increases we’re seeing in New York right now and if it’s the start of a new epidemic inside the city. ”
New York City saw 59 deaths statewide from the virus on Friday.
The disappointing news from New York comes as the country across the country appears to be headed in the right direction.
New Yorkers took advantage of temperatures topping 65 degrees in Central Park on Saturday
–
Pharmacist Mia Yu administers a dose of Moderna vaccine in Queens on Thursday
–
The United States administered 124,481,412 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The count is for vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer / BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson at 6 a.m. (ET) Sunday, the agency said.
The CDC has yet to update the number of doses dispensed.
According to the tally posted on March 20, the agency had administered 121,441,497 doses of vaccines and distributed 156,734,555 doses.
The agency said 81,415,769 people had received at least one dose while 44,141,228 people were fully vaccinated on Sunday.
A total of 7,662,913 doses of the vaccine were administered in long-term care facilities, the agency said.
The United States, as of the end of Sunday, recorded 29,812,343 cases and 542,246 deaths.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/eluniverso/IOMQUJKTRRHS7DS6TJR4SU3LX4.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
