EDITOR"S NOTE:
This is the daily press conference by the mayor where the host chooses which eight reporters will ask the mayor not one, but two questions. In the past three weeks I have been trying to ask the mayor, since COVID-19 indicators have risen two weeks after election day where people were on long lines outside and inside poll sites, where I observed over forty people in different poll sites not socially distanced if he will advocate to postpone the special elections he has called, and the special elections he will be calling when City Council members Ritchie Torres and Andrew Cohen resign from the City Council in January to the June Primary as was done in March 2020 by the governor. Today the mayor was at PS/MS 5 in the Bronx, and I also wanted to ask why Bronx public schools continue to lag far behind public schools in the four other boroughs, as I questioned Chancellor Carranza last year when he visited the Bronx Charter School for Excellence in Parkchester, where the chancellor said the mayor and I know that Bronx public schools are not performing to where they should be.
Why does the moderator call on the same reporters and not give others like myself a chance to ask a question of the mayor like I did when mayoral press conferences were live in person, where the mayor fielded all questions? What is Mayor de Blasio afraid of getting a question that he can not answer from me like when the Press conferences were live in person?
Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. Well, I'll tell you something – I had a great start to my week and my Monday morning out at P.S./M.S. 5 in Port Morris in the Bronx. What a beautiful scene this morning of kids coming back to school filled with energy, filled with hope, ready to learn again. I’ve got to say to everyone at P.S./M.S. 5, great, great energy in that school. The school community was so welcoming to the kids. The parents were so happy and so relieved to have their kids going back to school. And Chancellor Carranza and I took time to speak with a lot of the kids and the parents and we just heard such simple, powerful messages about why kids want to be back in schools, why parents wanted them back in school, how important it was to all of them that this day had come. And a young second grader named Ethan, I asked him how he felt, and he said the simplest idea – he said, I like school. And I talked to a fourth grader named Martha, and I said, are you happy back in school? And she said, yeah. I said, why? And she said, I learn more. I learn more when I'm back in school. And this is why it's so important, our kids need to be back in the classroom. And I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard over these last weeks to get our kids back, to make sure that gold standard of health and safety we have is even stronger with the weekly testing. I want to thank all the parents who got their consent forms in, everyone – and at P.S./M.S. 5, the principal, Danielle Keane, the District Superintendent, Rafael Alvarez, who were with us today, thank you to both of you and your teams for the great work you did bringing back this great school. And it's just one example of what's happening all over the city today – 850 school buildings reopening today in New York City – 850 places where there's joy and there's hope again because kids are back in school.
Now, I want to say – parents, we need you. We need your help continuing to fill out those consent forms at P.S./M.S. 5 today, vast, vast majority of parents that filled out consent forms. Any parent who hasn't had the opportunity to do it – right there as they arrive and they were doing it, they were ready to see their kids get tested. They wanted to keep everyone safe. And at this school, they will be transitioning next week to five-day a week learning. And that's what's happening at schools all over the city in the coming weeks as more and more of them will be able to reach five days a week, some for every child, some for most kids. We're going to keep pushing to get that to be the maximum number of kids possible, getting that five-day a week learning.
So, this was the opportunity today to follow through on the commitment that we made when school began and the commitment we made when we had the temporarily closed school, that we would keep everyone safe. And, in fact, we would add even more health and safety measures to keep the school community safe. I have absolute confidence that our school communities are doing an amazing job, really looking out for each other. And with the face coverings, the ventilation, the social distancing, everything coming together to keep people safe, it's remarkable. The Chancellor and I went and visited a 3-K classroom, we visited a kindergarten classroom. The kids – it's so amazing, they immediately got back into the rhythm of being in school. They are adaptable. They are resilient. They love being in school. And everyone in the school community is keeping them safe and each other safe. So, this is a very good day for New York City. Now, again, 850 school buildings reopening this week. You've got a 3-K, pre-K, and K-to-five grades opening today. You've got District 75 special education programs, opening Thursday. Another announcement today, in Staten Island, the area of Staten Island with the orange zone, those schools will be reopening based on the new State guidance. Those schools will be reopening for, again, the levels we've talked about so far – 3-K, pre-K, K-to-five will be reopening Wednesday – this Wednesday, December 9th, in the orange zone. And then, District 75 programs right after on Thursday in that area. So, we're going to keep moving forward. We’re to keep everyone safe, that's the key. But, to everyone in the school community, you've done an amazing job. And the schools of this city are among the safest places to be. So, with the additional testing weekly, again, parents get that consent form in. Go to mystudent.nyc, get your consent form in. Every single student either needs a testing consent form in or needs a proper medical exemption. This is what's going to keep us off safe.
And speaking of keeping us all safe, let's talk about our indicators. I said a few days back that we are in a new reality here. First of all, the good news, we're in a new reality because the vaccine will be arriving in New York City in a matter of days and every week we're going to get more and more, and that's going to be making more and more impact. But we also have real challenges over these next few months with the colder weather, with the challenges we've seen with the numbers going up with the coronavirus. So, our indicators needed to be retooled to reflect what we're seeing now and to make sure we're giving people the fullest picture of what we're facing and clarity about where we need to be, going forward. So, we're going to go over these indicators. I'll go over them first and then I'll turn to Dr. Chokshi, who will go into a little more detail.
So, first of all, as we've done in the past, the first is current hospital admissions. And what we're doing now is flipping the equation a little. Today's report is 144 patients that are going into the hospital. Where we need to be is under 200. We still are. Now, this number has obviously been going up in recent days. We need to keep emphasizing 200 is what we want to stay below. But a new indicator we're adding is the hospitalization rate per 100,000 citizens – per 100,000 residents, I should say, of New York City. New York State uses this approach as well, so we want to track with it. Today's number is 2.28 per 100,000. We want to get that under two per 100,000, going forward. Okay. Now, on current new cases, we're now going to be including probable cases, and this is important to give the fullest picture. So, we, in terms of the seven-day average of daily new cases, that number is 2,180 confirmed cases. And we want, of course – we're well past the number we want to be at, which is 550, but the new indicator is the probable cases. And that number today is 616 additional probable cases. Again, Dr. Chokshi will give you more of an insight into why we think it's important to note those probable cases as well. Number three, the positivity levels in the city – we're eliminating the single-day positivity number, because it's become less and less pertinent with the amount of testing we're doing now and the lag time of getting all the results. The much more appropriate number, the one we're getting the most information from is the seven-day rolling average. So, today's report on the seven-day rolling average is 4.98 percent. Obviously, where we want to be is under five percent. So, the idea is to constantly update these indicators so they can help you understand what's going on and what you need to do and how you can be part of fighting back this second wave. And here to explain why we're using this new approach, some of those been leading the way in the fight against the coronavirus, our Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi.
Commissioner Dave Chokshi, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You've heard me say before that data is the lifeblood of our COVID response, but data is also at the center of New Yorkers response. In order to act on that data, people must know the data for months. We've presented indicators that alert New Yorkers to COVID-19 trends, and shared more data on our public website than just about any other jurisdiction. And those numbers have driven necessary changes to our lives, both individually and collectively. We will continue to present daily indicators, but, as the Mayor said, we are going to make a few updates so that what we present every day is, number one, comprehensive; number two, stable; and number three, consistent. Today, we reported cases that were based on molecular, or PCR tests, which are the most dependable for a diagnosis of COVID-19. However, antigen tests, which check for a virus protein and can often return a result quickly are growingly used as a screening test for COVID-19.
I have to point out that there are some limitations to antigen tests compared to molecular tests. And if you have any questions about which one is right for you, please speak with your doctor about it. But because antigen tests have become more common and have improved over the last few weeks and months, we are adding antigen test results to our Health Department website. Positive antigen test results will be reported as probable cases, according to scientific standards, while PCR positives will continue to be reported as confirmed cases. The daily indicator will combine both of these – both confirmed and probable cases in a seven-day rolling average. These counts will ensure that we're keeping up with the science and making our data more complete. The second change, as the Mayor said, is the elimination of single-day percent positivity. We've all seen how weekends, weather, or holidays can alter testing patterns, which can result in fluctuations in daily percent positivity. So, moving forward, we'll focus on the seven-day average indicator, ensuring we get more stability. Our third change is to add per capita hospitalization rates to our current daily admissions indicator. New York State has a system for tracking total hospitalizations and we share the goal of returning hospitalization rates to below two per 100,000 residents on a seven-day average. And so, we're aligning those figures to ensure consistency.
Now, independent of the details of the methods, I want to make sure we don't miss the forest for the trees. The trends we are seeing across all indicators are worrisome. Our shared goal is to get back below the thresholds that we have set. And the actions we take are will get us closer. And last week, the CDC released a summary of 10 effective public health strategies for COVID-19 resurgence. These are steps that communities should focus on to address high levels of COVID-19 spread. These include universal use of masks, both indoors and outdoors, physical distancing and limiting contact, avoiding nonessential indoor spaces and crowded outdoor settings, increased testing diagnosis and isolation, prompt case investigation and contact tracing, safeguarding persons most at risk for severe illness or death, protecting essential workers, postponing travel, hand hygiene, increased ventilation, and cleaning and disinfection. And, finally, safe and effective vaccines. These are very consistent with the City's guidance over the last weeks and months, but now is the time to redouble our efforts and to turn science into the actions that we know can save lives. Thank you.
Mayor: Thank you so much, Dr. Choksi. And look, I want to bring these pieces together really simply. This morning, I watched kids – little kids with a mask on, getting hand sanitizer for their hands, knowing that they had to follow rules, getting a temperature check. Look, if our children can do all these things, we all can do it right too. So, it's so important to listen to what Dr. Chokshi is saying, what the CDC is saying. For example, we all, again, love to see our families, our loved ones, our friends at the holidays, but this is not a time to travel. So, I'm going to keep saying it throughout the remainder of the holiday season, please do not make plans to travel. If you have plans, canceled them – stay local, stay in very small, careful, safe gatherings. Also, for anyone over 65, anyone with those preexisting health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and other serious conditions, or someone who has both change your ways and your habits – stay in, stay in a safe situation, only go out for the most essential needs. We've got to all take this really helpful guidance and live it for a few months as we fight back this second wave once and for all, and as the vaccine comes into the city more and more. So, this is our last big push we can get through soon to the point where more and more New Yorkers will be vaccinated and we turn the corner.
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