Gov. Kathy Hochul visited SUNY Upstate’s Biotech Accelerator on Wednesday, where she gave a briefing on the state’s latest COVID-19 numbers.
Hochul said as much as people would like to talk about the pandemic in past tense, we’re not quite there yet, and the health department is seeing a rising tide of cases.
"You don't know every single variant that comes, is it going to be worse than the last one?” said Hochul. “Is it going be more transmissible? Is it going to be more lethal? You don't know these answers when you just hear about new variants."
Hochul said the state is tracking two subvariants of Omicron and is staying in constant communication with local governments.
She said home tests kits are helping to stop the spread, and 72 million have already been handed out, including through a partnership with the Food Bank of Central New York. However, those test kits also present a challenge when it comes to tracking.
"We also don't have the same numbers then. We don't have a test being conducted at a facility like the state fair, where the numbers were automatically tracked by the local and state health departments, so there's a gap in information," said Hochul.
To deal with this, the state is keeping a close eye on an upward trend in hospitalizations. Hochul said the hospitalization rate in central New York is double the statewide average, but at this point, the numbers are nowhere near where they were at the height of Omicron in January.
Hochul said she is also hopeful the timing of these subvariants may help stem the spread.
“The weather’s changing, so you look at that peak, that was when everybody’s indoors, holidays, gathering, traveling, and then you came down dramatically, so there’s less likelihood of spread when you’re not in confined spaces with people,” said Hochul.
