Rising cases mean New Yorkers should mask up, get latest COVID vaccine, test regularly, Adams says

A confluence of three widespread viruses — COVID-19, flu and RSV — has led Mayor Eric Adams to urge people in New York City to mask up, get updated vaccines and test regularly.

Wearing a face mask at a City Hall news conference on Tuesday, Adams promoted testing for flu, RSV and COVID-19, and the availability of Tamiflu prescriptions.

Regarding the high flu numbers, Adams said: "When you combine it with the other elements that we're facing … [it's] extremely challenging for New Yorkers, but we can get it done right if we get covered and we do it right."

RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, causes mild, cold-like symptoms. But for very young children and older adults, it may cause bronchiolitis, which affects the smaller airways of the lungs.

Adams also announced that kids ages 6 months through 4 years old can get the updated COVID-19 vaccine at all public hospitals in the city.

He said there were 250 walk-up sites for free at-home COVID-19 tests.

"If you test and you find yourself positive, it's best to just stay home," he said.

Unlike Adams' predecessor Bill de Blasio, who was in charge during the worst of the pandemic, Adams does not hold regular COVID-19 news conferences. 

But Tuesday, he appeared with city health officials who are helping overseeing the response.

"The fact is," Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said, "this holiday season, our city like the country, is expecting unusually high and concurrent spikes of COVID-19 and other seasonal infections, especially influenza and RSV."

He showed a slide with the COVID-19 test positivity that has been increasing.

Cases of RSV have been declining after spiking last month, but cases of flu have shown "a pretty dramatic incline and a much earlier onset of flu cases than really we've ever seen before; encouragingly this week, we're starting to see a little bit of a flattening in transmission, but it's still too early to tell whether we've hit our peak," Vasan said.

In the most recent week, there were more than 17,000 influenza cases, according to a document charting positive lab test results provided by health department spokesman Patrick Gallahue. In 2018, that number was roughly 500, and it was about 2,000 in 2019. There were very few in 2020, when society was still largely closed before the COVID-19 vaccine. There were about 1,800 last year, the document said.

Reports of positive RSV tests peaked at about 5,200 for the week ending Nov. 12, and have been declining since then. There were about 2,300 in the most recent available week, the one ending Dec. 10, according to the document.

The city publicizes COVID-19 test results differently than for RSV and the flu; the seven-day average of COVID-19 in the city on Dec. 17 was 3,636; as a point of comparison, it was about 4,519 for July 17. Near the peak of omicron, on Jan. 2, the number was 43,282, according to the city health department's COVID-19 website. The figures do not include at-home tests.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.