By Bob Tannenhauser
New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan announced today that the city “has transitioned to a high COVID alert level. Now is the time to double down on protecting ourselves and each other,” he said.
He posted the following:
The NYC Health Commissioner now advises all New Yorkers to wear a mask in any public indoor setting. People who are older than 65 or otherwise at a high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should also wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings and avoid gatherings when possible.
“‘We are not at the point of mandating masks,’ Mayor Adams said on Monday, adding that city hospitals were not overwhelmed and that there were new tools, like antivirals, to deal with the virus. ‘We are not at the point of doing anything other than urging New Yorkers, while you are indoors in large settings, social settings, wear your masks,'” The New York Times reported.
The Health Department also advises you to:
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get vaccinated and boosted. Vaccines are available for everyone ages 5 and older. Booster doses are available for everyone 12 and older. Visit the NYC COVID-19 and Flu Vaccine Finder or call 877-VAX4NYC (877-829-4692) to find a vaccination site.
Get tested. Testing is especially important if you have COVID-19 symptoms or were recently in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. You should also get tested before and after traveling or getting together with others.
Stay home if sick or recently exposed. Follow all isolation and quarantine guidance, including wearing a face mask. COVID-19 is highly contagious. You can spread COVID-19 even if you do not have symptoms.
Wash your hands. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use a hand sanitizer.
The Health Department is following CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels and will adjust our guidance based on their criteria.
Click on chart to enlarge
Mayor Adams seems to be taking this too casually. It seems no politicians are willing to implement mandates again because it’s such a volatile subject, but his words need to be much more firm and strong about what needs to be done. And he needs to wear a mask, which he may be doing in some situations, but I’ve seen him on the news maskless and surrounded by reporters. Not a good model.
Absolutely nothing “needs to be done”, except to model panic-free behavior, and remind the fear-prone amongst us of the following facts:
1) Covid is endemic. It is never going anywhere, and all of us will be infected multiple times in our lifetimes.
2) The vast majority of people are at low risk from covid infection. The elderly and high-risk can get vaccinated, which reduces their risk to that of any seasonal flu.
3) Hospitals are under no stress.
4) If you continue to be worried, in spite of these basic facts, you can choose to take greater precautions.
It’s time to regain our senses. Follow the actual science, not the political science.
Completely agree and very well said.
Appreciate your common-sense views.
We’re living with covid, as it doesn’t appear to be leaving us anytime soon. It’s even in the wild animal population now.
Yes. At what percent of paranoia can we get back to life? 10%? 1%? 0.1%
Thank you for this rational commentary. I strongly agree with everything you said.
Same here!
Second this. Adams doesn’t want to stir resentment from the anti-mask crowd. Schools have record number of cases, but according to him it is “safest place for children to be”. Backed up by what?
I ride the subway on the east and west sides very often, and the number of unmasked riders is higher every day. The mayor can certainly do something about that!
Yes! Please please mask mandate on public transpo, where we are crowded into enclosed areas. Seems like such a no brainer. It is such an easy thing to do and really the only way to keep each other safe. Also will protect against colds, flu, so why not??
It is still mandated on subways and buses. But like others I’ve noticed that compliance is way down compared to even a few weeks ago. I’m also seeing more tourists who pretend to be oblivious to the requirement to mask up.
You all do realize currently in our area about 91% of all tests being recorded are coming back negative. Any at home testing is not being reported and is skewing the numbers. Anyone getting a negative at home test would probably not then get an actual test, but an at home positive result would probably go and have an actual test for verification raising all the positive numbers higher than they actually are.