ALBANY – Sixty-five percent of all new cases of the coronavirus are originating from small social gatherings, Governor Cuomo said on Monday.
He predicted the surge of new cases will continue through the entire holiday season and he urged people to avoid small and large gatherings as much as possible. In any social setting, people should mask up, he said.
Cuomo expressed concern that if the pandemic reaches or exceeds the heights of last spring, it could have the potential of overtaxing hospitals.
“We are now worried about overwhelming the hospital system and if those numbers continue to increase, as we expect they will, you will see serious stress on the hospital system, he said.
To prepare, the state wants every hospital to compile a list of all retired doctors and nurses in the event they need to be pressed into action.
He also wants hospital systems to balance patient loads within their systems and plan for emergency hospital bed situations including increasing bed capacity by 50 percent.
Calling the battle against COVID-19 a war, Cuomo said it will not be over until vaccine is available and there have been enough inoculations to reach a critical mass. That, he predicted will not be until mid-2021.
