New York’s progress in combating the coronavirus pandemic has stalled in recent weeks, leaving the state with the highest COVID-19 hospitalization rate and second-highest infection rate in the U.S.

The number of newly diagnosed cases per day has been virtually flat since mid-February at just under 40 per 100,000 residents, which is roughly double the national average and second only to New Jersey.

New York’s hospitalizations have been declining, but more slowly than in the country as a whole. Its rate as of March 7 was 246 per million, which was also double the national average.

The state’s current death rate of .48 per 100,000 is roughly in line with the U.S. norm, and is going down. Because mortality is a lagging indicator, that trend is likely to level off if current patterns don’t change.

New York returned to being a national hotspot during the winter wave, when its infection rate increased faster, peaked later and dropped more slowly than that of the country as a whole.

The infection rate declined sharply after the New Year, but leveled off in mid-February. The reasons are unclear, but could include an erosion of compliance with social distancing rules or the advent of coronavirus variants that are more infectious.

Around the same time New York’s progress stalled, Governor Cuomo was hit with a series of scandals over his handling of nursing home data and allegations of bullying behavior and sexual harassment

Cuomo’s briefings on the pandemic, which have been less frequent, have accentuated positive news. He has not highlighted New York’s worst-in-the-nation hospitalization rate, and he has continued rolling back coronavirus-related restrictions, albeit more slowly than in some other states.

New York’s high infection rate might in part reflect its higher level of testing, which would identify more mild or asymptomatic cases. That would not affect its hospitalization rate, which is back to its level of mid-May 2020.

In another echo of last spring, the pandemic is once again most severe in the New York City area, including Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley.

 

About the Author

Bill Hammond

As the Empire Center’s senior fellow for health policy, Bill Hammond tracks fast-moving developments in New York’s massive health care industry, with a focus on how decisions made in Albany and Washington affect the well-being of patients, providers, taxpayers and the state’s economy.

Read more by Bill Hammond

You may also like

In a Tight Budget Year, New York’s Hospital Lobby Shoots for the Moon

As Governor Hochul calls for spending restraint next year, influential hospital lobbyists are pushing what could be the costliest budget request ever floated in Albany. In a , the G Read More

Putting the Mission in Hochul’s Health Commission

Last week Governor Hochul answered one big question about her Commission on the Future of Health Care – the names of its members – but left a fundamental mystery unresolved:  W Read More

Medicaid Drug ‘Carve-Out’ Led to Double Payments

The state's Medicaid program has effectively been double-paying for prescription drugs for the past six months due to a glitch with the roll-out of its pharmacy "carve-out." Since A Read More

DFS Pulls Back Draft Regulations That Would Have Added a Fee for Prescriptions

A package of proposed regulations that included a $10.18 fee for filling most drug prescriptions was withdrawn Tuesday by the Department of Financial Services in the face of broad opposition. Read More

DeRosa Is Still Hiding the Truth About Cuomo’s Pandemic Response

As the long-time top aide to former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Melissa DeRosa ought to have useful information to share about the state's pandemic response – especially about what went wrong and how the state could be better Read More

Hochul’s Promised Health Care Commission Has Yet To Be Appointed

A health-care commission that is supposed to be helping the state control soaring Medicaid costs – which Governor Hochul promised in January and described as "under way" last month – appears not to exist. Thre Read More

New York’s Medicaid Spending Is Running Billions Over Budget

New York's Medicaid program ran billions of dollars over budget during the first half of the fiscal year, adding to signs of a brewing fiscal crisis in Albany. According to the fro Read More

State Regulators Propose a $10 Fee for Filling Prescriptions

The Hochul administration is proposing to mandate a $10.18 "dispensing fee" for almost every prescription filled in New York, a change that would add billions of dollars to health-care costs statewide. Read More

Empire Center Logo Enjoying our work? Sign up for email alerts on our latest news and research.
Together, we can make New York a better place to live and work!