State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter said when you look at COVID hospitalizations in the state it appears as if they peaked in mid-August but since a major hurricane has hit the state, he fears things could change.
Kanter said the challenge will be that given the disruption that the storm, there’s no guarantee that we continue on the downward trajectory.
By the end of last week 1,755 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, down more than 40% since the governor issued his latest statewide mask mandate, and the positivity rate has dropped from 14% to 11%, which Kanter said is also encouraging.
Kanter said while he’s grateful for the downward trend in COVID hospitalizations he also understands it could be short-lived given the fact that many families were recently forced to shelter with others outside of their immediate household due to Ida.
Kanter said the message he wants to send is while the numbers are encouraging, citizens must remain vigilant with COVID mitigation practices to continue to make progress.
