NEW YORK — There was supposed to be one more person at the table during Gov. Kathy Hochul's COVID-19 briefing on Monday. Dr. Mary Bassett tested positive for COVID-19 that morning with a rapid test that people who come into contact with the governor take.
Bassett was sent home immediately after the positive result. Hochul said that she would take a more accurate PCR test later to confirm the rapid test results.
Hochul continued the briefing sharing data showing the continued rise of COVID-19 cases. On Sunday there was a record 23,291 cases. There has been a four-time increase from last week.
The spike was something expected with the omicron variant spreading around the state and country.
"But we are starting to see some encouraging news from the other nations that have been affected, those numbers went up quickly and they dropped quickly," Hochul said.
She added that the severity is not the same as the delta variant among people who are vaccinated against COVID.
Western New York has the lowest seven-day average with 55.63 cases per 100,000.
On Sunday, 60 people died from COVID across New York State. Data shared by Hochul showed 473 people were hospitalized in WNY, a total of 402 daily hospitalizations across the state.
"You can see the trend starting to go upward, but because the omicron variant is not resulting in such severe cases that require hospitalizations, we may not hit those peaks again," Hochul said. "But we're preparing, we're preparing for the worst."
The state has added 40 new vaccination sites and $65 million will be made available to counties across the state to help offset the costs of mask mandate enforcement.
Hochul emphasized the schools will be kept open, citing the fact that were are in a different circumstance than when they were closed in the past. To help reach that goal, they will make sure schools are following the test to stay program and that students are no longer required to have a PCR test to return to school, but just a rapid test. The goal is for students to be sent home with two testing kits.