A month into the Omicron surge, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said on Tuesday that there were signs that the rate of new coronavirus cases was beginning to plateau in New York City. But with cases still on the rise in the rest of the state and more hospitals forced to limit procedures, victory remained far off.
“Cases are slowing down, the rate of increase is slowing down, but they are still high,” Ms. Hochul said, referring to the 48,686 new known cases announced by the state on Tuesday. “We’re not at the end,” she said, but called the numbers “a glimmer of hope in a time when we desperately need that.”
Still, most of New York had yet to see the leveling off in New York City. “Upstate is continuing to go up, without a doubt,” Ms. Hochul said, adding: “Upstate is about two weeks behind downstate.”
According to a New York Times database, the trends in neighboring states were mixed: New cases in New Jersey were showing signs of slowing, while those in Massachusetts and Connecticut continued to climb.
Hospitals in the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley and Central New York regions have been forced to call off elective surgeries for the next two weeks because of the surge, and the state has extended its mask mandate through Feb. 2. A high proportion of coronavirus tests in the state — about 20 percent — continue to come back positive.
In another acknowledgment of how fast the Omicron variant spreads, the state health commissioner, Mary Bassett, said the state would no longer require local health departments to do contact tracing of coronavirus cases. The change will allow resources to be redirected to testing and vaccination, where they would be more effective, officials said.
Ms. Hochul said that counties could still conduct contact tracing if they wanted but would no longer be obligated to do so.
“It is almost impossible to do contact tracing in the way we had been in the past,” she said. Instead, the state plans to create a website offering guidance to New Yorkers on how to isolate themselves.
Across the state, 12,540 people were hospitalized with Covid yesterday, and 160 died.
Lisa Waananen contributed reporting.
