As COVID Transmission Declines, NY To "Open the Valve"

After the holiday surge of COVID-19, it is some good news as we get ready for the second half of winter.

Ever since the pandemic started, we have been watching Governor Cuomo talk about "valves" and opening and closing them to deal with the ups and downs of the pandemic. It looks like the valves are on the verge of beginning to open up again.

At his daily press conference in Buffalo earlier today the Governor said "The rate of transmission, one of the most important numbers, has now declined below one, meaning the virus is no longer spreading quickly. And when those numbers decrease, you can increase economic activity." The other pieces of good news Cuomo revealed today are that the positivity rate continues to follow a 3-week decline, and the hospitalization rate is also going down. These are all very encouraging signs after all of this data was surging after the holiday season.

Other than Erie County resuming elective surgeries, no immediate announcement was made on what "opening the valve" will look like but the Governor did say more tweaks to restrictions will be coming this week. What could this mean for the Capital Region? Right now we are not one of the hotspot zones as determined by the state, but the possibility of tweaks here could mean a multitude of possibilities once these changes are announced.