Rockland Coronavirus Hospitalizations, Deaths Spike

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Eleven more COVID-19 deaths were reported Rockland County Friday, bringing the death toll to 790 from 779 just four days before.

As of Friday, there were 108 people hospitalized in the county with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, according to county health officials. That's up from 96 hospitalized as of Monday.

Over 1,000 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Rockland in the past four days.

Since the end of November, 90 people have died of COVID-19 in the county, a clear local sign of the holiday surge about which national experts warned.

It began in September in Orthodox Jewish communities celebrating a series of religious holidays and swelled over Thanksgiving. Experts predicted hospitalizations and deaths, which are lagging indicators, would continue as people who caught the coronavirus over Christmas and New Years fall ill.

"We know these numbers. We know what is happening. This was all predictive. It is all predictive. Thanksgiving, holidays, socialization, holiday spread, the number goes up," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news briefing Friday.

New York is in a footrace between vaccination rollout and the surging pandemic, Cuomo said. "I'm telling you we are in a danger zone. The infection rate is going up quickly. The faster the infection rate goes up, the faster the hospitalization rate goes up. The hospitalization rate goes up, the hospitals reach capacity. Hospitals reach capacity, economy shuts down. That is what happens."

Hospitalizations are up around the state, he said.

Vaccinations have increased week to week since the state received its first supply from the federal government.

As New York is only being sent 300,000 doses a week, it will take months to vaccinate just the state's most at-risk workers and residents, he said, calling on the federal government to increase shipments.

"So I just want to be clear with my mother, and with everybody's mother, and with everybody's father, and with everybody's grandfather. We're talking about 14 weeks until the federal supply is increased. So, let's calibrate our expectations," he said.