Cuomo Pushes to Meet Biden’s Vaccine Goal in New York; Health Officials Explain

How low can it go? Even as New York City and state take major reopening steps, encouraged by plunging COVID hospitalization and death rates in the wake of the holiday surge, some are scratching their heads about one number in particular.

Why is the city’s positivity rate still so high? The question came up Tuesday in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s regular coronavirus briefing after the mayor shared updates on the three core metrics he looks to daily for progress. New daily hospital admissions have dropped below his 200-patient threshold. But new daily case — and the seven-day rolling positivity rate — remain well above the ideal.

In early November, the city reported new daily case averages around 1,000 or below. That number right now is holding at more than triple what it was then. As of Tuesday, the rolling positivity rate was 6.40 percent, by the city’s data. It was only four months ago that the rate topped 3 percent citywide for the first time in months, prompting de Blasio to move schools fully remote and suggest — with increasing fervency over the next few weeks — the city needed another shutdown.

Due to an aggressive increase in covid cases, Governor Cuomo is debating another shutdown, despite the vaccine rollout, Andrew Siff reports.

If that 3 percent threshold caused so much chaos a few months back, what is the level of concern with it lingering at a spot more than double that first benchmark? It’s not too high, city officials said, but it’s why they continue to urge cautionary behavior like masks and social distancing even as vaccinations ramp up.

Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, said it is possible that more contagious variants are keeping the plateau at a higher than desired level.

He and other officials last week revealed a preliminary in-depth report on the presence of variants in the five boroughs. It found that two variants — the U.K. one and another that first originated in Manhattan’s Washington Heights — accounted for 51 percent of all current cases citywide. The prevalence of those variants and more transmissible strains from Brazil and South Africa has grown exponentially on a national scale over the course of the last month and is likely underreported.

With new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus circulating, health experts are adjusting their recommendations for face masks. NBC News medical correspondent Dr. John Torres joined LX News to explain why you should make sure your face mask is well-fitted and double up.

Notably,…