At the peak of the pandemic, in Feb. 2021, the amount of new cases in New York State was up to 14,700 per day.  As of now, that number has dropped to about 4,000 new cases per day.  The amount of deaths in New York State reached its peak — a devastating 990 deaths per day — in April 2020.  Currently, that number has gone down a considerable amount, and is now at about 19 deaths per day.  

With the dip in COVID cases at the moment, some Schreiber students and members of the Port Washington community are hopeful for the return of normalcy into their daily lives.

“I’m glad there’s been a dip in the amount of COVID cases recently on Long Island.  Hopefully, COVID charts will continue to decline and everyday life and activities will return back to normal, like how it was before the pandemic,” said freshman Annie Li.  

The number of new COVID cases has declined due to the percentage of people who are currently vaccinated.  Currently, 82 percent of New York State residents above the age of 18 have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccinations, and 72 percent of those people have received two shots.  This statistic means that about 15.8 million New York State residents are partly, or fully, vaccinated.  However, children under the age of 12 are still unable to receive the vaccine.  Although there is not currently a vaccination for children between the age of 5 and 11, Pfizer is working to release a COVID-19 vaccine designed for the country’s 28 million children between these ages.  

Along with the new vaccination Pfizer has been working on, many companies are trying to develop booster shots for those who are already vaccinated.  The goal of these booster shots is to strengthen the COVID antibodies that were already given to these individuals.  Pfizer’s booster shots have been approved and are currently available and recommended to anyone above the age of 65, anyone in a long-term care facility, and workers who are at a high risk, such as healthcare workers and teachers.  Johnson & Johnson is also seeking FDA approval for their booster shot. At this time, federal public health officials are worried about the 15 million Americans with the Johnson & Johnson vaccination because they have a greater risk of getting a more severe case of the  COVID-19 virus.  The company claims that a booster will decrease the risk posed to these people. 

With the new booster shots, there are also newly implemented mask mandates in school districts around the state.  Although there are already mask mandates in New York State, Governor Kathy Hochul recently put new mask mandates for children under the age of 12 in place.  

“For children under 12 who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, masks are the best line of defense against COVID-19 infection.  This new mask requirement ensures that children in our child care facilities receive the same protection as children in our schools,” said Governor Hochul during a Sept. 15 announcement.  

Governor Hochul’s newly announced mask mandate is said to decrease the number of COVID cases in children, and to decrease younger children’s risk of getting sick.  These new mask mandates, along with others, have been shown to help in the lessening of COVID cases on Long Island and in New York State.  

    In addition to the positive reactions Governor Hochul’s new mask mandate elicited, there have been multiple negative reactions from the community.  From this clash in opinions over the mask mandates, Massapequa School District and Locust Valley Central School District, both located on Long Island, have sued New York State over the mandate.  Both school districts had a mask-optional policy before the new mask mandates and were not pleased with the governor’s changes.  

“Neither the health commissioner nor the new governor, Kathy Hochul, have the power to establish a statewide mask mandate policy as an emergency health measure,” said Massapequa School Board President Karry Wachter in a statement at a recent Board of Education meeting.

Governor Hochul responded to these school districts, saying that her top priority is the safety of the school staff and the students.