Doctors: Long Island is ‘past the peak’ of Omicron, but vigilance still necessary

Long Island's positivity rate is now the lowest it's been in a month at 12.27%. According to state data, about 2,300 Long Islanders tested positive Saturday. Hospitalizations now sit at 1,660.
COVID-19 cases are finally falling in the United States after nearly two months of skyrocketing case counts driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.
Dr. Mangala Narasimhan of Northwell Health Critical Care Services says the downward trend on the Island mirrors what the rest of country is seeing. "I think we past the peak and we're coming down now. We're definitely seeing a decrease in patients who are sick, who are needing hospitalization, who are testing positive in the community."
Dr. Salvatore Pardo of LIJ-Valley Stream says the hospital is also seeing glimmers of hope.
"We've had a leveling off of the surge, which is a good thing. Less people traveling because it's not the holidays. So I think all of that combined has led to a decrease in the level of people seeking testing," he said.
Hospital ICU's are still busy with COVID cases that have been coming in over the past few weeks. And, as the course of the pandemic has shown, lulls have been followed by surges fueled by variants, such as Delta and Omicron.
Health officials say people should remain vigilant.
"I think be indoors with caution, wear a mask, don't be around people who are sick, you know, common sense things like that. Just keep doing those things. There's still 25,000 cases yesterday in New York State, so we're not completely out of the woods yet but they numbers are coming down quickly so in another week or two we should be in a much better place," says Dr. Narasimhan