'Will We Have More Shutdowns?': Cuomo Weighs In

LONG ISLAND, NY — The biggest question on everyone's mind in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday, is whether the state will see new shutdowns.

"Nobody can answer that question today. It's purely up to us. It's a question of future actions determined by us, what we do over the coming weeks. I do not believe that we destined are to have a shutdown," Cuomo said. "Destiny is what we make it. ... A shutdown is totally avoidable."

The Department of Health has mandated that hospitals must notify the state if it is believed that their rate of capacity will reach 85 percent in three weeks.

"If that regional hospital system says we are going to hit 85 percent in three weeks, then we have a 15 percent buffer," Cuomo said. "That's when we would shut down the economy."

So far, Cuomo said, no hospital in New York has notified that state that it will be at 85 percent capacity by Jan. 8.

Hospitals across the state believe they can handle the increase as they move to crisis management mode, he said. New capacity has been added downstate, with 31,000 hospital beds available after the Department of Health mandated an increase of 25 percent capacity and the cancellation of elective surgeries.

Northwell Health and the Greater New York Hospital Association will "back up" the independent systems should there be a problem with capacity. For example, Cuomo said, before a patient walks into a hospital, there will be an ambulance out front to take the person to a neighboring hospital with more capacity, if needed.

On Friday, the state's positivity rate without the microcluster zones was at 4.6 percent, at 5 percent with the microcluster zones, and at 6 percent in the microcluster zones, and there were 120 deaths over the past 24 hours. Hospitalizations are down, with 66 new patients reported; there are also reductions in ICU patients and intubations, "all good signs," Cuomo said.

On Long Island, the hospitalization rate stands at 0.04 percent.

Cuomo said he believes New Yorkers can flatten the curve and should have a new mantra over the holiday season: "Stop the spread. Stop the shutdown."

Good news about vaccines

On a positive note, Moderna's coronavirus vaccine has received a green light not only from a Food and Drug Administration review panel but also New York's task force. "I will take the vaccine based on that affirmation," Cuomo said. There will be 346,000 Moderna doses delivered to New York next week and allocated regionally, "medically, not politically," Cuomo said.

The first people to get the vaccine will be front-line workers and those in nursing homes — there are 618 facilities in New York where vaccinations will be given on-site by CVS and Walgreen's Cuomo said — followed by essential workers and those most at risk.

Pfizer and Moderna will distribute vaccines to regional hubs statewide; 69,600 will come to Northwell Health on Long Island.

On another positive note, while it was initially believed that each vial had five doses of the vaccine, there is about 40 percent more in each vial, or six to seven doses.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, Cuomo said. "New York has been through hell, but the finish line is in sight. We just have to get there."

Sales tax extension for restaurants

The state is extending sales tax deadlines for New York City restaurants and waiving penalties and interest for taxes due Dec. 21, Cuomo said.