NEW YORK CITY ENTERS HIGHER RISK CATEGORY

Case numbers rise, which could trigger return of restrictions

New York City entered a higher risk level for the coronavirus Monday, a troubling reminder that the pandemic is not over and that the virus still has the power to harm New Yorkers.

The city moved into the medium, or yellow, risk category for virus transmission as cases continued their steady rise, a development that could trigger the return of public health restrictions, although they are not required to be reinstated at this point.

The city is now seeing nearly 2,500 new cases per day, a significant jump from about 600 daily cases in early March. The latest rise, fueled by the highly contagious Omicron subvariant known as BA.2, does not rival the first Omicron surge in December

and January, but recorded case levels are as high as they were when the Delta variant swept through the city last year.

What’s more, case levels in New York and around the country are probably much higher than the official statistics because many residents are testing at home, and positive at-home tests are not typically included in official tallies.

Mayor Eric Adams, who last month contracted his first known case of the virus, will face difficult decisions over whether to bring back mask and vaccine mandates at a time when he is focused on the city’s economic recovery and workers are returning to offices.

Adams has emphasized that hospitalizations and deaths remain low. There are more than 50 new hospitalizations and four or five deaths on average in the city each day.

In January, new hospitalizations rose to 1,000 per day and deaths to more than 120 per day.