Omicron variant BA.2 cases in New York as of March 30
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — There were 2,778 cases of COVID reported by the Department of Health (DOH) on March 26. The number of cases statewide has been down significantly since January 5 when COVID was at its peak in New York with 84,202 positive cases.
Because the number of hospitalizations is reflected in the number of cases, hospitalizations are also down. What is up is the percentage of cases caused by the omicron variant ba.2.
A third of COVID cases in the U.S. were caused by the BA.2 variant as of March 22, according to Reuters. New York is steadily catching up to the rest of the nation. On January 8 .8% of all cases were caused by the BA.2 variant, by March 12 41.9% of cases were, according to the DOH.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state was watching the BA.2 variant closely, at a press conference from Wadsworth Laboratory on March 21. At that time, Gov. Hochul said the state did not anticipate a spike in cases because of the omicron variant.
In the past three months, the number of COVID cases has ebbed and flowed with reported cases between 5,115 to 90,132 in January, 1,284 to 7,442 in February, and 1,099 to 3,875 in March, according to the DOH COVID tracking website. On January 8, the day after the state reached its last largest spike in cases 95.7% of them were caused by omicron but it was from strain B.1.1.529.
Gov. Hochul said the plan was to keep testing and vaccination sites available to New Yorkers to make sure the state was in a good place to handle another spike in cases. She sent a letter Tuesday to federal lawmakers encouraging them to keep funding COVID measures.
"Tremendous progress has been made in our fight against this virus, but we have seen all too recently how we cannot afford to be complacent," Gov. Hochul said. "New variants, such as the BA.2 variant, continue to arise, and without additional federal funds the proven tools we have come to rely on, most notably vaccines and boosters, may not be readily available for all New Yorkers."