NYC Health Official Tells Older Residents to Stay Home
The advisory is not a stay-at-home order but does discourage outings for both at-risk New Yorkers and their primary caregivers. Shutterstock
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At-risk residents in New York City, including people over the age of 65, should limit excursions as Covid-19 cases rise, the city's top health official advised this week.
Amid spiking Covid-19 hospitalizations, New York City’s top health official on Tuesday urged city residents with underlying health conditions and people the age of 65 to stay home as much as possible to reduce the risk of infection and transmission.
The advisory “warns at-risk New Yorkers about the growth in Covid-19 and urges appropriate precautions,” city Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said at a briefing with Mayor Bill de Blasio. “That means stopping non-essential activities, staying in as much as possible and avoiding social activities outside of your household.”
The notice is not a stay-at-home order, though it advises at-risk people to limit activities outside the home, with exceptions for traveling to work or school, as well as necessary trips like going to the grocery store or seeing a doctor. It also discourages travel and allowing guests into a home who aren't primary caregivers.
New Yorkers most at risk for developing serious cases of Covid-19 include elderly people and those with underlying conditions like cancer, diabetes and heart disease, according to Chokshi and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The notice also applies to otherwise healthy residents who serve as primary caregivers, he added.
The notice comes as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to increase in the city, which over the summer had seen some of the lowest numbers of cases after becoming one of the country's first epicenters at the beginning of the pandemic. The seven-day average of new reported cases was at 1,685, de Blasio said Tuesday, and the daily percentage of New Yorkers who tested positive was at 5.72%. Hospitals are reporting more than 1,100 Covid-19 patients, twice as many as three weeks ago and the highest number since the beginning of June.
Advising at-risk residents to restrict their movements and contact with others is a safeguard aimed at preventing those numbers from spiking further, Chokshi said.
“This escalation unfortunately follows a tragic, familiar pattern,” he said. “Cases grow, hospitalizations follow and sadly, too many result in critical illness or even death.”
Cases are also rising across New York state, with a daily positive rate of nearly 5%. Officials had largely expected that surge thanks to the onset of the holiday season, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, and increasing totals are likely to continue for the rest of the year.
"I hope the rate stabilizes post-New Year's Day, so I think you're looking at mid-January for stabilization of the rate. I hope. I hope, I hope,” Cuomo said Tuesday. “But the numbers are going up.”
Kate Elizabeth Queram is a staff correspondent for Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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