Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Winter Storm

 

Governor Hochul: "I want to thank New Yorkers for listening to us and literally staying off the roads, staying home at a critical time when we needed to be out there with the early salting and then the removal of snow while the snow is coming down at such a rapid pace. We're in a much better place than people would have anticipated. And it sure helped to have it happen on a weekend as opposed to during our normal commuting days. So, this was a fortunate circumstance, but it's all about preparation. You can't control the weather, but you can control how prepared you are. We were extremely prepared with our response, and we have a lot of seasoned professionals."

  We had no service disruptions based on weather from the MTA, the LIRR, the Metro North line. It was really quite incredible. I just got off a zoom call with the head of the MTA, Janno Lieber, as well as the head of the DOT, and our emergency response team. Our State Police have been in constant communication with them, and everyone just because they were prepared, they knew what to do. We were ready for the worst case scenario, you prepare for the worst and hope for the best. And yes, it was a disruption. But again, luckily we didn't need these lines, they were not as heavily used because it was a weekend as opposed to a regular commuting days. So that was a real blessing as well, to get the the big storm to hit on a weekend. Can't always count on that.

But you can't control the weather, but you can control your preparation and your response. And that's where I give our team high marks, as well as like I said, if New Yorkers hadn't listened to us, and they were all over the roads and driving around, there would've been a lot more stranded people and cars off the road. I've lived through this, through major, major storms in Buffalo, managing emergency response efforts up there. So, this was very well handled and it looks like the sun is out there shining now and shining on everyone.

We have in terms of how high it had been, just literally earlier this month, we had a 23 percent statewide infection rate. And now, that infection rate is down to about 6.9%. Extraordinary drops, still much higher than we were in early December or November before Omicron hit. So we're watching in comparison to what we've been in the fall. During most of the fall, New York City was at about a one or two percent infection rates. So we're getting there, and this, is people needed just need to hang on. We are absolutely turning the corner. Tremendous progress has been made. The more people get vaccinated, especially our children, I'm so looking forward to the day when we don't have to have masks on anybody, and our kids don't have to deal with this, but one way that we can help get to that day sooner is keeping the infections down, and the other one is getting more people vaccinated, and especially our kids.

So, to everybody who's been anxious, everyone I know is anxious to feel some sense of normal, we are going to have to continue to be vigilant. This is not over. But in the meantime people should be proud of the accomplishments we have. We are far better off than many other states right now. So those numbers are trending in a great direction, also watching very closely our hospitalization rates. Those are down, down another you know, down 2,700, just from last week alone. We are now at a much lower number than we were. We had 12,000 people in the hospital, literally two weeks ago. So we are doing much better and I liked the way the numbers are looking. And we're going to get there.

 Well, people are doing the smart things. Everywhere people go, they're wearing the masks. I'm seeing a lot more in N95s on people, which are a little higher level of protection. The restaurants and establishment where you have to be vaccinated to go into, or wear a mask, I mean, this is why, one of the reasons why we have a low infection rate. So continue. I was out for dinner and, you know, as we shoveled a little bit and got out, we were out at a restaurant last night, I just wanted to show support.

Please continue to support our restaurants and Broadway, and all of our cultural attractions, because there is a smart way to do it. You have any symptoms, stay home. Do you have any concerns? Get a test kit. Otherwise, if you're a vaccinated and boosted and masked up, there's no reason not to get out there. Our businesses really need the help. I'm going to be continuing to be out there supporting all the institutions that make the City in this region so fantastic, letting people know, I believe it's safe, because we're all taking the right precautions. We cannot stop living our lives. They can not let our businesses be hurt.

And as I said, from the very beginning, My job is to protect the health of New Yorkers, but also the health of the business community. And we all have a part to play to help them get back on their feet.