Gov. Kathy Hochul Tests Positive for COVID-19 as New York Records 13,902 New Cases Across the State

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday and said that she will isolate and work remotely this week.

Her comment comes only three days after the state recorded 13,902 new cases, the greatest number since January's spike, which was mostly caused by the Omicron strain. However, since mid-February, fewer than 3,000 people have been hospitalized in hospitals across the state, down 90% from January.

NY Gov.Kathy Hochul Is Asymptomatic

The Democratic governor posted a photo from the Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, New York, where she had gone to thank park personnel the day before. According to the Associated Press, Hochul is at least the 18th governor of the United States to test positive for COVID-19.

Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Janet Mills of Maine both tested positive in April while New York City Mayor Eric Adams tested positive on his 100th day in office on April 10. Hochul's positive test comes as the number of cases in New York continues to rise.

Much of upstate New York has been in the high-alert orange zone for weeks, a classification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that indicates widespread disease. Last Monday, New York City exceeded the the'medium risk' threshold, signifying the expanding spread of the BA.2 subvariant that has swept the state's northern reaches.

According to the most recent data, nearly 9,900 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, As stated in New York State government website. Since the end of January, the state has seen the largest number of COVID-positive residents, with over 13,902 positive findings recorded.

The seven-day average positivity rate in all of New York state was 7.2 percent on Sunday, up 7% over the previous week. In accordance with state data, 82 percent of New York's entire population has been vaccinated at least once since the outbreak began with 74.2 percent having received both shots, the needed criterion to be classified as completely vaccinated.

Hochul's positive test occurred one month after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont did, according to WNBC-TV. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy tested positive a week before Lamont.

On April 10, after attending a dinner at the Gridiron Club in Washington, New York City Mayor Eric Adams tested positive for COVID-19. At least 67 persons tested positive after attending the event, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Daily Mail reported.

US Should Prepare For COVID-19 Surge in Summer

Former White House Coronavirus Response Task Force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx stated the US should be prepared for a probable summer surge of COVID-19 infections throughout Southern states.

Summer surges are now expected in the South, while winter surges are expected in the North, especially around the holidays, according to Birx. She said she pays close attention to statistics coming out of South Africa, where new COVID-19 cases have lately increased.

Public health officials must make it apparent to the public that protection against the virus wears off over time and that weak or compromised persons should be treated with caution, according to Birx.

COVID-19 home testing kits and booster injections, she added, are vital tools for Americans to deal with surges. Birx's warning comes as another Omicron strain, the BA.2 subvariant, is spreading in the United States. The seven-day average of new cases in the United States was about 54,000 on Saturday, up from around 49,000 a week ago and nearly 31,000 a month ago.

According to recent statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 60% of adults and 75% of children have antibodies suggesting that they have been infected with COVID-19.

Health experts say it's unknown what this implies for future infection protection so the CDC says it's still vital to have Covid-19 shots and boosters. Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, caused a stir when he said, "We are certainly, right now, in this country, out of the pandemic phase." He later clarified that he didn't mean the pandemic was over, but that the country was in a transition phase, as per CNN.