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New York State COVID-19: What you need to know about an uptick in cases

David Robinson
New York State Team

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has often described New York's plan to limit the spread of coronavirus as being akin to firefighters rushing to extinguish embers to prevent a wildfire.

The metaphor has taken on renewed urgency recently as COVID-19 cases surge across the U.S., threatening to trigger a second wave of infections in New York and evoking painful memories of its initial pandemic peak this spring.

Yet Cuomo, state health officials and experts have asserted New York is much better prepared now to reduce infections and deaths, citing a nation-leading COVID-19 testing and contact-tracing strategy aimed at identifying and isolating infected people as early as possible.   

"Detect the smallest outbreak as soon as it happens. Patient zero. Trace it back to where it starts, find a small outbreak, a small cluster and jump on it," Cuomo said during a recent press briefing. 

A lab at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University conducts COVID-19 pooled surveillance testing for all SUNY schools and a variety of other colleges across the state. Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020.

"Quick action to contain it and eliminate it. That is the best you can do in this situation," he added.

Amid the rapidly evolving infectious-disease hunts unfolding daily statewide, health officials and experts are monitoring a vast array of data, documents and national trends to guide the pandemic response.

USA TODAY Network New York compiled answers to key questions about the dire effort underway to save lives.

How to get tested for COVID-19 in NY?

The tally of COVID testing sites in New York stands at more than 800, up from about 700 in mid-May and a handful in early March, when limited testing hindered the pandemic response.

Now, the Empire State is averaging well over 100,000 tests per day, up from just 7,000 per day in March.

Some sites offered rapid point-of-care tests delivering results in a matter of minutes or hours, but many offered tests that ship samples to labs, which return results anywhere from two days to 10 days, according to the state's test site directory.

The statewide average and median for receiving COVID-19 test results was two days in early October. About 40% of results were received within 24 hours and 70% within 48 hours.

More: How New York tested 134,000 people in one day as COVID clusters grew

In general, COVID-19 tests are available in New York through a screening process that determines symptoms or exposure to an infected person, and some sites require an appointment. 

While state and federal laws require health plans to cover the costs of COVID-19 diagnostic tests, there are scenarios that can result in people being charged fees for the test.

People should contact the testing site and their insurance provider prior to getting a test to ask about potential fees.

How many COVID-19 cases in NY?

During the summer, New York's daily tally of positive COVID tests hit its lowest point during the pandemic, hovering between 400 and 700 cases.

An uptick in cases began in late September in part due to the reopening of colleges and schools, health officials said.

The state has hit recent highs in positive test results, including 2,026 cases on Oct. 20, the highest mark since May. The figure has held relatively steady since that peak, including 1,632 positive results on Oct. 24.  

In contrast, the state peaked in the spring at around 10,000 cases per day, though limited testing at the time allowed thousands of cases to go unconfirmed, experts said.

More: Will NY avoid COVID-19 surges sweeping the U.S.? Here's what you need to know

Meanwhile, the number of new cases per 100,000 people has steadily ticked upwards since late September, when the metric stood at slightly below 4 new cases per 100,000 on average.

Now, the metric is hovering around 7 new cases per 100,000, a level last seen on the state’s downward journey from the pandemic peak in April, when it stood at close to 50 new cases per 100,000 people.

How many COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York?

Since late September, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations have nearly kept pace with increases in new cases. The metric tracking daily hospitalizations recently reached levels last seen in June. 

On Oct. 24,  1,015 New Yorkers were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 118 intubated on breathing machines.

Meanwhile, there have been major improvements in medical treatments for COVID-19 since the spring, including the use of various drugs to limit inflammation and blood clotting that occurs in severe cases.

More: Investigation: 62 NY nursing homes failed at infection control amid COVID-19. What happened.

Experimental drugs, such as the antibody cocktail developed by the New York-based biotech company Regeneron, have also shown promise as they seek regulatory approval for widespread use to treat COVID-19.

Still, no drugs have been proven to prevent the onset of severe COVID-19 illnesses, meaning rising hospitalizations remain a threat if infections spread widely, experts said.

When will there be a COVID-19 vaccine?

At least one COVID-19 vaccine should be available as soon as the end of this year, and the general public should be able to get vaccinated by early spring, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Oct. 21.

Some experts have asserted it will take until the fall of 2021 or later before the general public is vaccinated, citing the complicated process of manufacturing and distributing hundreds of millions of doses.

In New York, a panel of medical experts has released a draft plan for distributing an eventual COVID vaccine, but the state requires further details from the federal government to finalize the plan, Cuomo said.

More: New details emerge in state, federal plans for distributing millions of COVID vaccine doses 

How many COVID-19 deaths in New York?

The state Department of Health reported 25,730 New Yorkers have died due to confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Oct. 25. 

Of that, about 90% of the people who died had underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, lung disease and cancer.

Nearly 85% of the deaths occurred in people at least 60-years-old, with the fatality risk increasing with age beyond that point. But severe COVID-19 illness has struck people of all ages, according to experts and state data.

Further, communities of color accounted for a disproportionate share of the deaths. For example, Black and Hispanic New Yorkers accounted for 31% of deaths statewide, excluding New York City, and just 21% of the population.

More: Why George Floyd's death, COVID-19 inequality sparked protests: 'We're witnessing history'

More: How many nursing home residents died of COVID in New York? What we know (and don't know)

During the pandemic peak in spring, COVID-19 killed around 800 people per day. After curbing the virus's spread this summer, New York went several weeks with few COVID-19 deaths each day.

But in late October, as cases and hospitalizations rose, the fatalities began ticking up, reaching between 10 and 15 deaths on some days.

Meanwhile, some experts and health officials have estimated New York's COVID-19 death toll is closer to 33,400, including presumed deaths counted in New York City.

The U.S. has reported more than 8.3 million cases and 222,000 deaths as of Oct. 22, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

USA TODAY Network contributed to this report

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David Robinson is the state health care reporter for the USA TODAY Network New York. He can be reached atdrobinson@gannett.com and followed on Twitter:@DrobinsonLoHud