WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY. From the American Jewish Committee. November 16, 2022:

In a time when antisemitism is on the rise and hate crimes have reached alarming levels, what can unite communities in times of strife needs to have a greater focus compared to what might divide them.

That was the key message to emerge from the American Jewish Committee Westchester/Fairfield Thanksgiving Diversity Breakfast November 9 at Suny Westchester Community College.

“Together, we are stronger,” said Myra Clark-Siegel, director of AJC Westchester/Fairfield. “Everybody coming together in unity. When you think about Thanksgiving, that’s what the holiday was really designed for.”

More than 300 people—representing more than 110 community groups from different religions, ethnic backgrounds, and walks of life–attended the breakfast at SUNY Westchester Community College, whose president, Belinda S. Miles, proudly noted was the most diverse of any of the 64 colleges in the State University of New York System.

In many ways, the gathering felt like a family reunion. Indeed, this was the first time since 2019 the breakfast was held in person because of the pandemic. New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins remembered when the breakfasts were much smaller and said the large turnout this year was both inspiring and necessary.

“Sometimes, it takes a breakfast like this to remind us that we are not alone. That there are other like-minded people who will not only break bread but will stand in solidarity with you in doing this work.”

Stewart-Cousins was one of the keynote speakers, along with Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who said combating antisemitism and hate crimes was a top priority for him and Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“It’s critical that we do this work. It’s also sad that we have to take these kinds of steps to offer protection,” said Delgado, who with his wife, filmmaker Lacey Schwartz Delgado, are raising their two children as Jewish. “More security and protection is necessary but it is not sufficient. We must address extremism and divisiveness with work, prayer, love, and conversation.”

Also among those attending were Westchester County Executive George Latimer who provided welcoming remarks on behalf of Westchester County; New Rochelle Mayor Noah Bramson; White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach; and dozens of officials.

Caroline Simmons, the mayor of Stamford, CT, told the breakfast her city’s adoption—in partnership with AJC—of the working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, was in keeping with Stamford’s diversity.

“We have residents who speak 71 different languages who come from all different faiths and backgrounds,” Simmons said. “And this diversity is our greatest source of pride and strength.”

This was the 21st Thanksgiving Diversity Breakfast, which was started as a way to help Westchester and Fairfield counties heal following the 9/11 attacks

AJC provided every participant with a Thanksgiving “America’s Table” reader, which provides discussion questions for families to use during Thanksgiving, and inspirational quotes by interfaith and intergroup leaders. Participants also received suggestions on “How to Be an Upstander,” and took action during the Breakfast by signing onto AJC’s nine-point Statement of Community of Conscience of Principles, a non-partisan, non-denominational way that every person can take action to be an upstander for others.

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Enjoy this week’s arts events.  View this email in your browser

THROUGH SUN., NOV. 20: A Play About Crime, Punishment & Passion Through November 20, Axial Theatre presents “Never the Sinner,” a play by John Logan that is inspired by real-life events. The story follows the complicated relationship between Nathan Leopold, Jr. and Robert Loeb, who kidnapped and murdered Loeb’s 14-year-old cousin in May 1924. “Never the Sinner” includes themes of crime, punishment and the desperation that comes along with intense passion. Read more about Axial Theatre and this play in the current issue of ArtsNews. Showtimes available at 11am and 8pm.MORE INFO THROUGH SUN., NOV. 20: She Loves Me Arc Stages presents the musical She Loves Me set in a 1930s European perfumery. Two feuding clerks, Amalia and Georg, respond to a “lonely hearts advertisement,” and they now live for the anonymous love letters they exchange. While the identity of their admirer remains unknown, the audience will join Amalia and Georg in each discovering who their true love is. Nov. 18 & 19 at 8pm and Nov. 20 at 2pm.MORE INFO FRI., NOV. 18 THROUGH SUN., NOV. 20: Six One-Act Plays Inspired by Iconic Songs  The Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT) presents The Living Music Event, a festival of short plays that incorporates music into each production. This festival will feature six new one-act plays that were created during the WCT development workshop. Each play was inspired by an iconic song from the Great American Songbook, which will be sung by Ossining vocalist Anne Carpenter during the event. Friday, Nov. 18 at 8pm; Saturday, Nov. 19 at 2pm and 8pm; Sunday, Nov. 20 at 3pm.MORE INFO SAT., NOV. 19 THROUGH SUN., JAN. 8: The Great Holiday Train Show The New Castle Historical Society kicks off its annual holiday tradition, The Great Holiday Train Show, this Saturday. Guests will discover the 19th-century summer residence of Horace Greeley, which will be festively decorated for the holidays with train displays running through each of the period rooms. Begins at 10am.MORE INFO SUN., NOV. 20: An Evening of Late Renaissance Music at Caramoor Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts presents countertenor Iestyn Davis and lutist Thomas Dunford for a concert in the Center’s Music Room surrounded by Renaissance furniture, Gothic tapestries and stained glass elements. These award winning musicians will perform a program of Late Renaissance French, Italian and English songs combined with solo lute music. Begins at 3pm.MORE INFO FRI. NOV. 25 THROUGH SUN., NOV. 27: Hudson River Museum’s Holiday Kick-Off Weekend Hudson River Museum kicks off the holidays with a weekend of holiday events.  Events include Glenview Holiday Tours, where guests will visit the six fully restored period rooms decorated for the season, as well as holiday ornament workshops, performances from Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, and a special holiday edition of its The Sky Tonight planetarium show.  The tour begins at 1pm.MORE INFO TUES., NOV. 29: Weekly Musical Playgroup: SHAC Snack Attack Hour Every Tuesday morning, Hudson Valley Writers Center presents the SHAC Snack Attack Hour. This weekly musical playgroup, facilitated by Josh Lewis, founder and artistic director of The Sleepy Hollow Arts Center (The SHAC), gives children and their caregivers the opportunity to sing, dance, play and snack.  Live music is provided by local musicians, creating an immersive environment. Begins at 10am.MORE INFO WED., NOV.30: Spiritual, Sacred and Secular Songs by Jewish Composers Downtown Music at Grace presents soprano Jardena Gertler-Jaffe and pianist Bethany Pietroniro during a midday performance. The duo will explore concepts of the spiritual, sacred and secular through a program of works by Jewish composers and poets. Included will be Yiddish folksongs arranged by Dan Shore, of which Jardena Gertler-Jaffe made the world premiere. Begins at 12:15pm.MORE INFOThis and That by JL ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam’s Blog So, What Are We Celebrating This Thanksgiving? For many years after my ex-husband Ed and I decided to go our separate ways, his brother Mort would pack his Volkswagen bus with his three children, his ukulele and harmonica, and various Chilean relatives whom he brought here after the fall of the Allende government in Chile. Read more.

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The respiratory illness storm ravages on. And it’s only November. Here is where we are with the “triple threat.”

RSV

Cases of RSV continue to skyrocket. Data shows we are testing a lot, though, as test positivity rates are not as high as in 2021. This is likely attributed to increased knowledge, which is good news. In addition, there are hints that RSV is peaking. With RSV, antigen test positivity rates usually peak before PCR, and that’s what we are seeing now. Cases may soon follow.

(Source: CDC)

Historically, the RSV season lasts 5 months. It will be interesting to see how the holidays impact RSV patterns, though. Typically RSV peaks in January, but because it has arrived so early, we are in new viral dynamic territory.

There’s no doubt that social networks will change next week due to Thanksgiving. For example, we will see family that we don’t typically see. This will open up new pathways for transmission, and RSV numbers may therefore continue to rise.

Influenza

Flu is right behind RSV and coming in hot; it’s earlier and steeper than previous pandemic and non-pandemic years.

(Source: CDC)

We certainly see regional variability of the flu. A number of states in the South and the Atlantic seaboard, for example, have the highest activity level color that CDC records—purple in the map below. (The first time CDC used a purple color was in Louisiana in 2019, when they added it to the scheme due to very high levels.) This is causing flu surveillance at Johns Hopkins, for example, to go off the charts as seen below.

(Source: CDC)

(Source: Andrew Pekosz)

There is good news from the Southern Hemisphere among countries that just concluded their flu season. Chile, for example, found the flu vaccine is a good match for the current strain. They are reporting a 49% efficacy rate. But only 28% of Americans are vaccinated against the flu. This is almost 10 percentage points lower than pre-pandemic rates, which is frustrating.

COVID-19

Interestingly, for the first time during the pandemic, there are more than 300 subvariants circulating, and not one is dominating globally.

This isn’t stopping the virus from causing waves, though.

SARS-CoV-2 is currently creating two global hotspots: Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. In South Korea, for example, we see an increase in cases and hospitalizations due to the variant soup (lots of lines of color in the figure below are increasing, as opposed to just one or two lines of color that we’ve historically seen).

(Source: Moritz Gerstung)

Other areas across the globe are starting to tick upward, including admissions in South Africa and Western Europe. Similarly, these upticks are not due to one variant but rather a mix of Omicron subvariants, waning immunity, weather, and behavior change.

(Source: Jean Fisch)

The real headscratcher is that the U.S. wastewater continues to plateau, but given previous patterns, a wave should have started by now as BQ.1 accounts for more than 50% of cases. A lot of eyes are on the West, too, as a new Omicron subvariant—BN.1— is growing.

Purple= Midwest; Pink= South; Orange=Northeast; Green= West. (Source: Biobot Analytics)

Given trends in Europe, it is still very likely that the U.S. will have a COVID-19 wave.

But, overall, this could be a good sign that we finally have an immunity wall that is challenging the movement of COVID-19, regardless of labs showing subvariants can partially escape immunity. We need to hold off on sweeping conclusions—like whether this pandemic is over— until this winter plays out.

Implications

The convergence of these diseases has three important implications:

1. Impact on hospital systems. The hospitals, and in particular pediatric hospitals and emergency departments, are hanging. by. a. thread. Every pre-pandemic winter, pediatric hospitals were overwhelmed. This year the unique combination of circumstances is creating terrible strain, which has many implications, including the quality of care for everyone. We need to fix this on a systematic level.
2. Risk of co-infections. Someone can be infected with two viruses at the same time. In fact, the first death from RSV and flu co-infection was reported in a child under 5 years old in California.
3. Lessons not learned? I had hoped we would have applied lessons from COVID-19 to other diseases, like masking, staying home while sick, and getting vaccinated. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like this is happening. After 2.5 years of a pandemic, the public (and leadership) is just in a different state of morale, and the willingness to take preventative steps seems to be lower.

Bottom line

“Normal” viruses are continuing to show their muscle, and the seasonal virus repertoire now includes COVID-19. We are very concerned going into winter, as this situation is already applying massive pressure to hospital systems. Time will tell how the next few months play out.

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WPCNR BEAR SURVEILLANCE. From Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. November 14, 2022:

This is the letter I received from the NYS DEC regarding bears seen in Greenburgh- Ardsley Road, Dobbs Ferry, E Irvington, Clarewood (this summer), Orchard Hill (near the Acme supermarket neighborhood)

A bear was seen on Ardsley Road just a few days ago  

PAUL FEINER

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WEEK OF NOVEMBER 6 TO 12 REPORTS 1,214 NEW PERSONS POSITIVE FOR COVID THROUGH SATURDAY OVER 3-DAY WEEKEND. ELECTION DAY COMINGLING HAS YET TO SHOW A SURGE.

WPCNR CORONAVIRUS SURVEILLANCE. Statistics from NY State Covid Tracker. Observation and Analysis by John F. Bailey.

Spreading of the Covid virus through the last nine months from March through the first two weeks of November has averaged over 1,000 new cases a week.

 The disease after being controlled in March, the month where vaccines started lower cases to 826 a week, ballooned to 1,605 cases a week in April has over the next  31 weeks, has generated an average of  1,579 new covid cases a week over the 9 months, and an average of 14,480 new cases a month.

The week ended Saturday November 12, saw 1,214 cases, or 173 a day, and cases down from 1,356 last week.

From Sunday to Saturday, new lab-verified covid positive persons in Westchester County were 190, 205, 212,180, 186, 124 and 117.

Now it remains to be seen whether the socializing of the 3-day weekend and the mingling on Election Day will result in the typical middle of the week spurts in infections.

On a monthly basis, the average number of infections per month the last 9 months were 14,480 new covid cases a month throughout Westchester County. Those 9 months resulted in 130,322 infections of covid.

Every week of the last 9 months, 1,509 infections were the average of new covid cases in the county, which counted for 127,208 infections on a weekly basis per month, 14,211 a month.