Mayor Adams not ready to reimpose mask mandates, but will "pivot and shift" with COVID
NEW YORK -- There are concerning COVID numbers in New York City and now health officials are urging people to take special care this Mother's Day weekend.
So, could the return of mask mandates be in our future?
The numbers are startling. The U.S. is set to hit a new record of people dying from COVID-19.
"At some point this month we're gonna hit that one million mark, just a really catastrophic, horrible mark for our country," White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told CBS Mornings.
It's the result of high transmission levels from a growing wave of Omicron subvariants, often taking its toll on people who are unvaccinated, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported Friday.
Stunning new numbers from the White House say 100 million Americans could get infected in a fall and winter COVID surge.
"It's all kind of the idea that a pound of prevention is better than a ton of treatment," internist Dr. Alexandar Salerno told CBS2's Dick Brennan. "'Cause we know winter time, we are gathering indoors, it's the holidays, it's the cold and flu season."
The White House warning comes as it demands more congressional funding for COVID, insisting that new money for vaccines, boosters and testing could seriously blunt any coming wave.
The Biden administration says they also expect Americans will be getting COVID a second time, something Salerno is already seeing in his New Jersey practice.
"I'm seeing so many people not only getting it a second time, a third time, and I'm seeing it within six months. I think what we can predict with COVID is that we can't predict COVID," he said.
Watch Marcia Kramer's report
In New York City, there is also a troubling increase in COVID cases, which forced the Health Department to raise the alert level and urge people to wear masks in all indoor settings.
The seven-day positivity rate is now 6.57 percent, with 2,855 new cases. After the last Omicron surge abated, the city positivity rate was just over one percent.
There are also troubling statistics about the number of people getting vaccinated and boosted. Just over 78 percent of New Yorkers are what city health officials call "fully vaccinated," that's the initial two doses. But only 38 percent have had an additional booster shot, which may be why the Health Department launched new ads this week, one on COVID prevention and one on COVID treatments.
Mayor Eric Adams says that, while he's concerned about the numbers, he's not ready to impose new mask mandates in schools or to consider more vaccine mandates. For Adams, there's the dual concern of bringing the economy back and getting people to return to the workplace.
Adams says he's proceeding carefully.
"We're going to pivot and shift like COVID pivots and shifts. Every morning we meet and based on the outcome of our meetings, we'll make an announcement where we are going to go. If it stays at this level, we may pivot and shift and still do mandates. If we see an increase in hospitalizations and deaths, that is alarming, we may shift. COVID pivots and shift, I'm going to pivot and shift," Adams said.
As we approach Mother's Day weekend, officials are urging people to gather safety, and that includes making sure the people you celebrate with are vaccinated and boosted.