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WPCNR SATURDAY COVID REPORT. From NY Covid Tracker for December 15. Observations by John Bailey. December 18, 2021:
Westchester County will exceed the highest number of infections in a single day all year that was 1,100 on January 14.
The state reported 983 new cases Wednesday of 13,814 tested, an infection rate of 7.1% Tested coming down with the rapidly spreading disease.
Of MidHudson region of seven counties tops 2,055 newly covid infected at midweek with Westchester 983 covid positives almost double the 6 other counties.
On Long Island Nassau and Suffolk counties, 3,917 were newly reported infected.
New York City all five boroughs virtually doubled the 9 counties surrounding it with 10,286 Wednesday doubling up the MidHudson and Long Island infections of 5,372.
The infections in Westchester alone on December 1 were 359. Two weeks later on Wednesday the 983 infections mean that those 350 covid positives spread covid to 2.7 or 3 other persons, is directly reflected in the 983 figure of new infections at midweek.
Hospitalizations in Westchester were at 125 Monday. The 359 infected two weeks ago hospitalized only 125, this would mean the disease is not as severe for those 359, but still hospitalization rate of those 359 was 35%.
Extrapolating– if the hospitalization rate, an indicator of the seriousness of the disease of the 983 reported new cases Wednesday and their hospitalizations do not rise too much more than 35% of the 983, Westchester may see 344 hospitalizations (we presume that is a net figure—covids leaving subtracted from the incoming, that has never been made clear by any authority in the county), within two weeks at the very least. Those hospitalizations will not come in all in one day, but may come in before the two weeks are up.
Westchester has 2,700 hospital beds. We could see a runup of 300 hospitalizations a week by the first week of January, if not substantially more.
However, if the county continues to rise infections at 35% a day, we will be filling up hospitalization slots faster and staffs worked harder. That is what the numbers may be telling us.
The numbers tell us covid is spreading faster at record daily rates the highest since last January.
Office parties around the area are being cancelled showing prudence and concern and I might say respect for employees and for the potency of the virus now out of control.
As County Executive George Latimer said in his stalwart address Tuesday afternoon, one of the persons to have tested positive for covid last week, and now isolating in his home, it is imperative persons never vaccinated should get the first shot, their second shot or the booster. Mr. Latimer said he delayed getting his booster and it cost him.
Governor Hochul said Monday, vaccines are the end of this red plague. If you are not vaccinated, or if you are fully vaccinated you need to continue to mask, and social distance, because you may actually have the virus microbes in your nasal cavity and mouth and be breathing it on people you meet, if not masked.
County Executive George Latimer said if you speak to someone face to face for 15 minutes, in that period of time you can transmit the disease microbes to the person you are talking to. If that person is unvaccinated, you have given them: a friend, a business associate, a relative, the one you love, a child you love.