COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rates increase as questions swirl

NEW YORK — Coronavirus infection rates are surging in the city with more than 15 percent of all tests coming back positive on average in the past week, data from the Health Department shows — and it remains unclear what Mayor Eric Adams plans to do to address the pandemic resurgence.

While the weeklong test positivity average is at 15.4 percent citywide, there are pockets in every borough where the rate tops an alarming 20 percent, the data shows. COVID-19 hospitalizations are ticking up, too.

As of Thursday, 1,119 people were hospitalized with COVID -19 in the city, the highest number since February, according to city data. Compounded with booster vaccination rates remaining largely stagnant, public health experts view the spiking hospitalization rate as especially troubling.

Health Department data shows the citywide coronavirus booster rate has been stuck around 39 percent since April, a concerning sign as the effectiveness of the first two vaccine doses wanes over time.

“We need a campaign to reverse this trend, based on a simple Q: are you up to date on your vax?” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine wrote on Twitter over the weekend.

Levine, who used to chair the City Council’s Health Committee and has been a major proponent of vaccine mandates, suggested Adams should reintroduce a $100 cash incentive for boosters and roll out an aggressive ad campaign educating New Yorkers that being “up to date on your vax” should at this stage of the pandemic include a third shot.

But Adams has so far been vague on how his administration will fight the latest COVID-19 spike.

Earlier this month, Adams’ Health Department quietly removed the color-coded alert system that spelled out a range of actions that the municipal government should consider taking when infection rates hit specific thresholds.

Asked how the city will battle COVID -19 without the alert system, Adams promised he’s working on “new weapons” for the pandemic fight. He said he’s going to bring in experts “from all across the globe” to help build the new weapons, but did not elaborate on what they will look like or how soon New Yorkers can expect them.

Adams spokesman Fabien Levy did not have any more details to provide Monday about the forthcoming “weapons.”

But Levy touted that the Adams administration has doubled down on providing free at-home tests to New Yorkers and expanding access to Paxlovid, an antiviral pill that people who test positive can receive at nocost from the city.

In a bid to expand access to care for COVID-19 patients amid the summer surge, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that the state is teaming up with the city’s public hospital system to launch a hotline for those who test positive but do not have a regular health care provider.

The free hotline, 888-TREATNY, is available 24/7 and will be staffed by health professionals who have the clinical training needed to prescribe treatments and referrals if needed.