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SEPTEMBER 1-30 COVID WESTCHESTER INFECTIONS WERE 1,018 LESS THAN LAST MONTH.

ORANGE, ROCKLAND & SULLIVAN COUNTIES AT RISK FOR POLIO.

WPCNR CORONA VIRUS SURVEILLANCE. From the New York State Covid Tracker. Observation & Analysis by John F. Bailey. October 3, 2022 UPDATED::

This year September new Covid cases were more  than last September setting the stage for another wave  covid in Westchester County in November and December.

UPDATED WITH CORRECTION: The Westchester September new cases of covid in the 30 days September 1 to 30 2022, were 1,018 cases less than last month,  August 1 to 31—when Westchester had lowered infections 4 straight weeks, totaling 6,812. The September 1-30 infections 5,794 were 15% less infections, despite the growth in the spread over the month..

 Since September 1, Westchester new infections of new covid have risen to 193 average new infections a day, compared to September 2021 rate of 150 average infections a day.

The infection spread rate the last two weeks of this month is very encouraging. 2,933 persons infected with covid during 1,336 persons this past week, a spread rate of 1 person infecting ½ a person. This shows the covid bivalent which is  the covid virus variant (the leading covid strain causing 90%  infections),  is being spread less because people may be actually being more careful.

The  new momentum in the infections for the 30 days in September, with persons getting sick faster from covid  and recovering very shortly would seem to indicate that reckless socializing, “back to normal, no separation of desks no screens, no mandatory testing” starts to almost all Westchester School which no longer are required to file covid reports indicates  a “whistling past the graveyard attitude.” Officials appear to be declining to tell parents and residents the demographics of the infections, how many children are getting sick, and are particularly reluctant to require vaccinations to attend school. The legislature in Albany could do that. But they do not want to get the public upset going into the midterms elections.

Last year when vaccinations slowed infections in the spring of 2021, the infection rates were below 1% at the end of  June.  Beaches opened. Restaurants were opened.That  the infection rate to 1-1/2 % in August and then, and then ballooned in September 2021 to over 2% — now the Westchester County infection rate for last week was 6.5% on Saturday, 199 of 2,499 testing positive.

Last fall, that September infection rise, with vaccinations, school precautions, October produced an average 1.5% positives a day, a total of 2,633 that resulted in a jump because of socializing in November which had 4,068 infections leading to the December explosion of 44,877 infections in Westchester County. 

It would be a good idea for persons who are not fully vaccinated to get vaccinated, and get the bivalent vaccination. I got the bivalent shot Friday. I felt muscle pain in the arm and was a little tired the next day. It is the best thing you can do for yourself with the uncertainty of behavior of the public and the uncertainty in the schools. If you are over 18, you should get the bivalent shot.

Meanwhile, Governor Hochul in a news release at the end of last week warned about not having your children vaccinated for polio. Polio, if you as an adult are unvaccinated for the polio vaccine, or if your children have not been inoculated, will if you or child are exposed to it, you can be crippled, gradually paralyzed, and need an iron lung to breathe.

There is no cure. Here is an excerpt from the State Health Department Press Release:

Governor Hochul announces Polio a threat.

“New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett declared poliovirus an imminent threat to public health in New York State, thereby expanding the availability of funding and resources to support local health departments in establishing immunization clinics, deploying vaccine to health care partners, and conducting outreach to unvaccinated and under-vaccinated New Yorkers to increase immunization rates particularly in the areas affected by the virus and among children.

Following the identification of a case of paralytic polio in an unvaccinated individual in Rockland County, the State Health Department launched wastewater surveillance, a tool to check for signs of the virus in sewage water in communities. Sequence analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has since found repeated evidence of poliovirus detected in samples collected from Rockland County, Orange County, and Sullivan County as well as detected in samples collected from New York City and Nassau County.

New York State has focused its efforts in areas where the threat is concentrated, which includes where there is repeated detection, and where there is a relatively low percentage of children that have completed their three-dose polio regimen by the age of 2. These areas include Rockland, Orange, and Sullivan Counties.“