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COVID Counts Are Up Again. Does Anybody Care?

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Covid nose swab test - Westchester Covid News

July 13, 2022

By Barrett Seaman–

The Town of Greenburgh has announced that all visitors, including attendees at Town Council meetings, are required to wear masks. “We know that most people hate masks,” conceded Town Supervisor Paul Feiner in a public email. “Some employees and residents have compromised immune systems. If they get Covid-19 it could be very dangerous—possibly fatal.”

We knew that. Right? But has anybody besides Paul Feiner noticed that the statewide positivity rate is now up above 10%? Westchester County’s latest tally was 11.7%. When he reported on Monday that there were 3,356 active cases in Westchester, County Executive George Latimer was quick to note that the numbers have been oscillating in a range of 3,100 to 3,500 but that hospitalizations remain under 5% and fatalities under one percent. But they are definitely higher.

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Moreover, chances are that the number of active cases is being under-reported—because many who even bother to test are doing so at home and not reporting positive results, and because many who have COVID-19 (and have been fully vaccinated) don’t even know they have it.

What is increasingly apparent is that the fear is gone. Except for those with underlying health conditions like cancer, diabetes or obesity, fully vaccinated New Yorkers (now comprising nearly 80% of the population) seem to see COVID-19 more as a nuisance than a lethal threat. The latest variant, the Omicron BA-5, is said to be “highly contagious” but so far not highly life-threatening. That may change, IF the virus changes—and it could change in ways that make it not only more transmissible but also more likely to land people in the hospital.

So far, Greenburgh stands alone among Hudson Valley governments in demanding masks. Irvington’s public meetings remain entirely remote—the most cautious of the villages’ responses. The rest remain mask-optional at their public meetings.

There are those who have felt from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that we as a country overreacted, causing undue disruption to our lives and our livelihoods. I’m not among them. We had lockdowns when we had no idea what COVID was, and no vaccine or effective treatment. Now we have both, as well as a large component of fully-vaccinated people who—so far—can live without the fear that ruled our lives for the bulk of two years. We also have experience with what works and what doesn’t in terms of public health measures. Should the virus take a turn for the worse, we are better prepared to react rationally. It has been a hard lesson to learn.

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