A significant increase in deaths from Covid in Westchester County was reported at the same time the county government reportedly received a shipment of 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine from New York state and started vaccinating the county’s frontline workers, including Department of Health nurses.
Westchester County Executive George Latimer reported at a briefing yesterday that during the six-week period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, there were 165 deaths in the county from the virus, the same number as occurred in the five month period from late May to early October.
“Ten percent of all the people that have died in Westchester County have died since Thanksgiving Day,” Latimer said. “If that isn’t a sobering statistic to think about when you think about how virulent the disease is then I don’t know what statistics you need to hear. The fact is that we’re losing people to Covid. Some percentage of people who get the disease get sick enough to go to the hospital and some of the people that get sick enough in the hospital, unfortunately, we go on to lose.”
Westchester had 1,019 new positive tests for the virus on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases recorded in the county to 75,176 since the pandemic began. There were 14 new deaths in the county on Wednesday. The state’s Department of Health put the total number of deaths in Westchester from Covid-19 as of Wednesday at 1,858 with 1,711 being Westchester residents.
Orange County recorded seven new deaths for a total of 552, while Dutchess had five, bringing its total to 274. There were no new deaths in Putnam or Rockland. Putnam has lost a total of 67 residents to the virus and 600 Rockland residents have lost their lives. Across New York, there were 197 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total number of fatalities in New York state to 31,164.
Latimer pointed out that despite the development of vaccines, it’s important for people to realize that masks and social distancing are still the order of the day, and that although there’s light and the end of the tunnel the fact is that we’re still in a tunnel.
“It could very well be that the vaccines will not get into our arms for a good amount of time to come. When we get to the point of vaccinations of broad groups of people it will be a massive task,” he said.
Latimer said that the county plans to use Westchester County Center as one of the hubs where vaccinations will be administered. He said that people will need to apply for appointments and the system will be more sophisticated than just a free-for-all where people show up and stand on a line in a first-come, first-served scenario.
“It will be online: file a form, have a time, have an appointment and be prepared for that appointment at that time, and that’s the fastest most efficient way for us to operate,” Latimer said.
The county will be following the priorities established by New York state for determining who initially qualifies to receive a vaccination. The first priority is category “1A,” health care workers who are on the front lines. The state determined that with increasing hospitalization rates, the new strain of the virus that first appeared in the United Kingdom (UK) and now has been identified in New York, keeping hospitals functioning is essential to avoid another complete shutdown of activity.
Next would be the “1B” category which covers essential workers including police, firefighters, teachers, grocery store workers and people who are at least 75 years old. That age group has the highest death rate from Covid.
New York state estimates that the 1B category includes approximately 3 million residents. A variety of nongovernmental agencies will be used in cooperation with local governments to administer vaccines including pharmacies, private doctor networks, and community groups serving communities classified as underserved. The state will provide information on additional categories of people as more doses of vaccine become available.
“Westchester County Medical Center, which has been identified as the hub medical facility in this region, is the one that has been tasked with looking at distribution (of the vaccines) across the seven county area,” Latimer said. “County executives have been tasked with being involved in that process, being helpful, and trying to help matters and coordinate that process.”
During his Covid briefing Thursday afternoon, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo expressed concern that about 30% of eligible health care workers are opting not to receive the vaccine. He said the number of vaccinations being given is growing, with about 50,000 given statewide on Wednesday. Cuomo said that state officials believe that although only one case of the UK strain of the virus has been confirmed in New York, there likely are more and it spreads rapidly.
“Local governments, as well as I am very concerned about the local hospital capacity,” Cuomo said. “We are continuing to see an increase in the hospitalization rate. If the UK spread catches on in New York, hospitalization rate goes up, the hospital staff is sick, then we have a real problem, and then we’re at shutdown again.”
Cuomo noted that all hospitals are reporting staff shortages, primarily nurses.
“That’s why we reinforced the necessity to get the hospital health care workers vaccinated,” Cuomo said. “You know in the airline when the announcement comes on when you’re sitting in the plane, in the event the oxygen mask falls from the compartment, first put the mask on yourself and then put it on your child. The equivalent here is protect your hospital systems, keep your hospitals open, so if you need them there is a bed and a staff to assist you.”
