With a huge new wave of COVID-19 hitting the nation, the coronavirus is once again taking its toll on every aspect of American life, from major sports leagues stopping play to a spike in infections in states from coast to coast.
In New York state, record case counts of over 20,000 per day have hit this week, causing testing lines to stretch for blocks in the five boroughs and causing calls for help from FEMA.
Follow below for the latest news and live updates on the COVID-19 Omicron variant from the New York Post.
California will require healthcare workers and workers in “high-risk congregate settings” to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster by Feb. 1, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday as part of the state’s response to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The mandate follows a Sept. 30 order for the state’s healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated.
“We recognize now that just being fully vaccinated is not enough with this new variant, and we believe it’s important to extend this requirement to getting that third dose, to getting boosted,” Newsom said at a briefing.
Tri-State area schools weigh going remote after New Year’s amid Omicron surge
Schools across the tri-state area are scrambling to figure out how to safely open after Christmas break amid an Omicron surge — and some are already planning to go virtual in early January.
The Paterson, New Jersey, School District announced Wednesday that learning will be entirely virtual for students and staff from Jan 4. to Jan. 18 following a spike in cases. The 4th-largest district in the Garden State already switched two high schools to virtual learning.
“The rising numbers of COVID-19 cases due to multiple variants are cause for concern for all of us. ” Paterson Superintendent Eileen F. Shafer said in a statement. “A surge of new cases has occurred in northeastern New Jersey, and it is expected that the trend will continue through the holiday break.”
New Jersey reported 9,711 new cases on Wednesday, an all-time high, according to Governor Phil Murphy’s office.
The hard part all lays ahead. The NHL and NHLPA must create guidelines that might feature reintroduction of taxi squads and the adoption of cap exemptions in response to COVID-related roster issues. Sources have told The Post that talks on these issues began on Wednesday following disposition of the Olympics.
Bringing back the taxi squad, which last year had a four-player limit, seems inevitable. It makes no sense for the NHL to adopt more stringent health protocols including daily testing and denying entry to practice facilities to those players who do not produce a negative result, all the while having teams call up players from the AHL, who are not under the same protocols.
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that new guidelines to shorten isolation over COVID-19 could come “soon” — as the UK reduced the period in England from 10 to seven days.
During a Wednesday appearance on “CBS Mornings,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said officials were “actively examining” relevant data and “doing some modeling analyses to assess” whether to make any changes.
“And we anticipate that we’ll have some updates soon,” Walensky said.
Also Wednesday, the UK Health Security Agency said infected people in England don’t have to continue isolating if they test negative on the sixth and seventh days.
The HSA — the British equivalent of the CDC — said its analysis suggested a seven-day isolation period, combined with two negative tests, had nearly the same protective effect as a 10-day isolation period without testing.
“We want to reduce the disruption from COVID-19 to people’s everyday lives,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid said.
New York City jails will pause in-person visits as the rate of coronavirus spread hits “crisis level,” The Post has learned.
The commissioner of the Department of Correction, Vincent Schiraldi, said in a memo to jail staffers, obtained by The Post, that the suspension would go into effect Wednesday and be a temporary measure to help stall the spread.
The move comes a day after Schiraldi implored public defenders to ask court “to consider every available option to reduce the number of individuals in our jail.”
New York State smashed previous records again Wednesday, adding 28,924 new Covid — the highest number recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.
The statewide positivity rate has jumped to 10.66 percent, with a 7-day average of 8.58 percent.
4,452 people in the state are currently hospitalized with the virus. On Wednesday, 828 of those people were in the ICU and 475 were in the ICU with intubation. The state also reported 57 deaths.
New York City and Long Island currently have the worst outbreaks, with 151.08 cases and 134.60 cases per 100k population respectively.
An empty restaurant in Greenwich Village on December 17, 2021 Getty Images
The ongoing surge in coronavirus cases is decimating New York City's restaurant industry, according to data compiled by the online OpenTable reservation company.
The total number of people eating at Big Apple restaurants that use the service fell by nearly 60 percent on Monday and Tuesday, compared to the same days in 2019, the figures show.
The grim statistics came after two days of smaller declines that followed the announcement Friday that a record 21,027 New Yorkers had tested positive for COVID-19.
On Saturday, the number of diners dipped 32 percent since before the pandemic and on Sunday it was down 38 percent, according to OpenTable.
Monday and Tuesday saw deeper declines of 58 and 57 percent, respectively.
The situation in the city is playing out amid an average, nationwide decline of 11 percent during the week that ended Monday, according to OpenTable.
"While our State of the Industry dashboard shows seated diners down ‘only’ 11% compared to 2019 - the situation is changing rapidly and this is far from the resurgence many restaurants were counting on this holiday," company CEO Debby Soo said in a prepared statement.
"Add to this unprecedented staffing shortages and ongoing complexity with evolving restrictions - restaurants need us to keep safely showing up for them whether that’s on premise, takeout or delivery."
Most outdoor dining tables remain empty at Carmine's restaurant on W 44st. Robert Miller
Nearly 40 percent of fully vaccinated Big Apple residents have received a COVID-19 booster amid concerns that the original vaccine regimens won't provide enough protection against the Omicron variant, city health officials said Wednesday.
Of the 4.3 million eligible Gotham residents, only 1.7 million have received the additional dose, according to the city Department of Health.
City officials have urged New Yorkers to get their booster shots, which preliminary studies have suggested significantly enhance protection against Omicron -- and offered a $100 incentive to those who get the jab at city-run sites by Dec. 31.
The drug, Paxlovid, received an emergency use authorization for use in patients 12 years old and up who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are at high risk, the FDA said Wednesday.
CityMD on E 14th Street, in Manhattan closed Wednesday morning. William Farrington
Thirteen CityMD clinics across New York City – all of which offer COVID-19 testing – will temporarily close beginning Wednesday due to staffing concerns, according to the company.
The closures will affect locations in every borough except Staten Island and come as private and public coronavirus testing sites in the city have been overwhelmed with demand amid the Omicron surge.
“As so many of you are aware, most CityMD locations are operating at full capacity, doing our best to meet the urgent care needs of the people of New York and New Jersey,” the company said in a message posted to their website.
Long lines formed at testing facilities near a shuttered CityMD on East 14th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday morning. William Farrington
CityMD closures include three locations each in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens and four in Manhattan. William Farrington
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer on Wednesday called on the feds to send 100 mobile COVID-19 testing sites to New York City and look into expanding locations on Long Island to prevent an explosion in Omicron cases from overwhelming the regions.
“We need these 100 mobile sites and we need FEMA to do it ASAP,” said Schumer, who appeared at Mayor Bill de Blasio’s press briefing.
The Senate majority leader, in a letter to FEMA, insisted that it’s critical that the agency “provide the city with the necessary resources to help slow this spread.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted Wednesday that his "preference" remains to move forward with plans for the return of the city’s in-person New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square — despite an explosion in cases caused by the Omicron variant.
"We'd like that event to move forward so long as we can do it safely and that will be a decision with the health care leaders," de Blasio said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
