The Big Apple is expected to shift to a “medium-risk” COVID-19 alert level within the next week because of an increase in cases, the city’s health commissioner says.
“In the next few days, likely by early next week, we’re going to be entering a new level of risk, moving from a low-risk environment to a medium-risk environment on the basis of cases,” Dr. Ashwin Vasan told NY1 Friday.
The city is currently in a “low” risk of community spread alert, but health officials say the new sub-variants of the BA.2 variant of Omicron as of Wednesday had accounted for 80.6% of the state’s infections.
Although there’s no evidence that the new variants cause more severe illness than earlier versions of COVID-19, Vasan said they’re transmitting faster and people should begin masking more frequently in indoor public settings.
He also suggested those visiting family and friends over the Easter and Passover holiday weekends get tested afterwards.