The state’s acting Health Commissioner, Dr. Mary Bassett, has tested positive for COVID-19, Governor Kathy Hochul revealed during a briefing Monday, Dec. 20.
New York’s top health official got a positive result via a rapid test, but is feeling “fine” and has been fully vaccinated, including a booster shot, the governor said.
“She’ll be having another PCR test just to confirm that, so in the meantime, we’re going to take all the necessary precautions and she left the office immediately and we’re just waiting for those results,” Hochul said. “She’s feeling fine and we’re thinking about her and her family and all the New Yorkers who are just having their family plans disrupted because of this virus.”
Hochul added that her office follows strict protocols and that everyone gets tested daily.
Bassett, the former city health commissioner whom Hochul tapped to take over the agency on Sept. 29, is one of thousands of New Yorkers testing positive for the virus amid a surge over the past week, with almost 24,000 cases statewide as of Sunday, a four-fold increase from 6,000 just last week.
Hochul, echoing Mayor Bill de Blasio, forecast the current wave to only be short-lived, citing upticks followed by drops in other countries, and the governor didn’t expect a government shutdown thanks to vaccines and masks.
“We are starting to see some other encouraging news from the other nations that have been affected. Those numbers went up quickly and they dropped quickly and that’s what we expect to see happening,” she said. “We really truly don’t anticipate to see any shutdowns and so we’re not going to throw in the towel here. We’re going to keep fighting back.”
The governor unveiled her winter surge plan to combat the ongoing wave driven by the more infectious Omicron variant.
Her plan includes $65 million in additional support for local governments to enforce her vaccine-or-test mandate; opening seven new testing sites next week, including two in New York City; distributing 10 million at-home tests, half before the end of the year and the rest in January; along with six million masks.
New Yorkers have been forced to wait in hours-long lines as testing sites are swamped with demand, and 258,000 people got swabbed for the virus in the state Sunday, Hochul said.
Hochul’s Director of Operations — and former mayoral candidate — Kathryn Garcia said the state would ask the federal government to invoke the Defense Production Act to produce more at-home test kits.
“We need them to help make sure that there are tests available to anyone who needs it, because we will continue beating the drum that we want you to be able to take personal responsibility and protect your loved ones by knowing whether or not you are positive with COVID and to stop transmission,” said Garcia.
