Hochul adds booster mandate for health workers; NY's COVID surge slows

NEW YORK — Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that New York State’s coronavirus caseload could be peaking, albeit at steep heights, signaling that the hospital admissions surge may soon slow, too.

The heavily mutated omicron variant drove a rapid rise in cases as fall faded to winter, flooding hospitals and sapping businesses and emergency services of staff. As New York entered the new year, one in five COVID tests statewide were coming back positive.

But Friday, the state’s week-long average in cases per 100,000 people increased by just 1% from the previous day. And the state’s test positivity rate dropped each day from Monday to Thursday.

Despite the hopeful developments, the state still reported disturbing daily tallies of hospitalizations and deaths: 155 infected New Yorkers perished on Thursday, and more than 11,000 were hospitalized.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/hochul-adds-booster-mandate-for-health-workers-ny-s-covid-surge-slows/ar-AASxZNe