New York City Raises Covid Alert Level To “High”, Advises Face Masks

Here we go again.

With even mentally unstable people who demand to be told by the government on a daily if not hourly basis what to do with their lives having finally moved on from the sheer lunacy that was the dark period of government-mandated lockdowns and covid–linked suspensions, on Tuesday New York City again raised its Covid-19 alert level to high amid increasing pressure on the health care system.

The city upped the warning from medium after signaling yesterday that the change could be imminent. Guidance during a high alert level encourages New Yorkers to wear a face mask in all public indoor settings and crowded outdoor settings, although Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that he was not at the point of reinstating a mask requirement, perhaps because countless studies have now shown beyond a reasonable doubt that masks provide zero benefits to containing the spread of covid.

UPDATE: The COVID-19 Alert Level in NYC is now 🟧high. There is high community spread of #COVID19 and pressure on the health care system is increasing.

Learn about additional precautions during this level: https://t.co/6bMY13hKWj pic.twitter.com/9TzqjB7ITt

— nychealthy (@nycHealthy) May 17, 2022

As Bloomberg reports, alert levels take into account cases, hospital admissions and the percentage of inpatient beds that are occupied by Covid-19 patients. Early in May, the city moved to a medium alert from low after surpassing 200 new cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period. As of May 13, new cases were at 292. A high alert level is triggered when new hospital admissions over seven days surpass 10 per 100,000 and the percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by Covid patients is greater than 10%, according to guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New admissions were at 9.8 per 100,000 and increasing as of May 13, while 4.14% of inpatients beds were occupied by Covid patients.

City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said he expects the current wave’s peak won’t last long if residents follow guidance.

Getting back to Low Risk depends on everyone doing their part and if we follow guidance, our forecasts anticipate this wave’s peak will not last long. What we do now can make all the difference.

— Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD (@NYCHealthCommr) May 17, 2022

We would take the other side of that bet, with midterm elections coming up and with the Democratic establishment desperate to do everything to maintain the status quo, that means lots and lots of mail in ballots coming up, and only another “spike” – real or imaginary – in covid cases will be required.