NY’s Coronavirus Hospitalizations Highest Since May

New York’s number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus is now more than 1,300 patients, the highest since late May. The death rate has hit double-digit numbers four days in a row after weeks of single-digit daily deaths, NBC 4 reported.

The hospitalizations rate was up by 229% over last month, part of the national surge of cases and hospitalizations. In Texas, the governor has asked out-of-state nurses to come to help hospitals cope with the workload. In Florida, hospitals are running out of ICU beds. In California, nearly every major city has mandates masks for everyone, including the vaccinated.

The vast majority of hospitalized patients are unvaccinated, including children too young to be eligible for vaccination. In Louisiana, there are multiple toddlers in the ICU. Though it is possible for fully vaccinated people to contract the virus, they will have milder infections and are dramatically less likely to be hospitalized.

73% of all U.S. counties are in a state of “high transmission,” according to the CDC, with more than 100 cases per 100,000 people. That includes all of New York City, nearly half of New Jersey counties.

Under CDC guidelines, that means universal indoor masking is strongly recommended. In New York City, though there is no mask mandate, an increasing number of businesses are required to go a step further and allow only people who can present proof of vaccination to enter.

Politicians from both parties and medical experts are warning the number of cases are being driven by low vaccination rates and the infectious delta variant, dragging out of the pandemic and increasing the possibility of an even more dangerous variant to mutate.