COVID-19 in NYC: October hot spots

In the last several weeks, though New Yorkers have been enjoying things slowly reopening and having a little more freedom to go out and about and enjoy outdoor dining with indoor dining around the corner and gyms reopened, cases slowly started rising again. At first, they were said to be due to rise in cases from certain hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens, and even then, only certain neighborhoods within each. However, slowly, as the trend has picked up, certainly not like other parts of the country in the Midwest and South which are seeing a more dramatic uptick in cases, leadership has become concerned and certain re-openings, especially in these hotspots, are stalled. Hospitalizations hit their highest total since July 22 (705) according to the NBC NYC news on October 8.

Then this begs this question: does this mean a 2nd wave is around the corner?? Some say this is just the start of the 2nd wave that was predicted and which would coincide with the start of flu season. Some say this is an anomaly of large gatherings in these clusters, which Governor Cuomo has delineated with color by red and yellow. Large fines will be given to those who defy wearing the masks and not social distancing. Riots broke out in Brooklyn amongst a Jewish Hasidic community just this past week over these new restrictions imposed by the Governor. Especially in the red zones, things will be much more strict. The leaders of New York and New York City certainly do not want to see another trend or rise in cases again and they want to do as much as possible to prevent such an occurrence.

With the promise of a vaccine still many months away and with Johnson & Johnson recently having pause their large Phase III trial of their vaccine for COVID-19, these types of strict measures are the only options available to control the spread of the disease. Whether New Yorkers like it or not, this virus is not leaving as there is nothing to stop it now and nothing to prevent its return. As cold weather looms ahead and the return to the indoors awaits, the possibility of further preventing an increase will become even more difficult.

Written by Usha Govindarajulu

October 13, 2020