Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Steps to Protect New Yorkers from Respiratory Illnesses This Fall and Winter

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced steps the New York State Department of Health is taking to raise awareness of and protect New Yorkers against respiratory virus infections that are spreading this fall and expected to continue through the winter. Health officials are urging the public to take steps geared toward stopping the spread of infectious disease as cases of seasonal influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus are rising with more New Yorkers staying indoors due to colder weather.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks are available below:

Good morning, everyone. Well, first of all, I'm very happy to be here this morning to give an update to New Yorkers on what is happening with health. I'm sure many of you are seeing what's going on in national news. You turn on the television, it's the lead story, the tri-pandemic, whatever it's going to be called. And I want people to know that we are taking this very seriously, and I'd like to take a chance to walk through, especially for parents who are nervous right now about what the steps are that we're taking in New York. So, it's getting colder outside. Half of my staff was out sick last week. It's respiratory season - respiratory viral spread, and we're all seeing these, again, the national news stories, and it's concerning. You know, it's the flu, it's covid, it's RSV all at the same time. So, you're asking, "If my child gets sick, will I know the symptoms? What do I do? How can I protect my family?" I'm a parent. Now, I'm a grandparent and I'm constantly calling about a six-month-old baby, saying, "Are you watching out for these symptoms?"

So, I know what parents are going through. There's nothing to be alarmed about right now. What you've seen in other states is an overreaching capacity in some of the hospitals, especially pediatric units. And I want you to know our Department of Health is laser-focused on all the dynamics involved. You know, do they have nurses available? Do they have enough hospital beds? Do they have enough ventilators? So, I want everyone to know that we are focused on this intensely. We have a couple areas of the state that have had a problem really for the last couple of years. The Finger Lakes and Central New York, its below 10 percent, but they have historically had fewer beds, and they've proactively been able to manage when the numbers start increasing. And again, we're always ready to deploy people from one part of the state to the other. It's something we've done very well for a number of years. So, we'll be able to manage that.

Right now, statewide, pediatric beds, non-ICU capacity is 25 percent. And again, in those areas it's about 10 percent that I mentioned. So, 25 percent non-ICU pediatric beds are available, but we'll track the data. And if we see any alarm bells, we'll know early enough so you know if something happens to your child, because we've seen these images on television, you know, tiny babies on respirators struggling because they contracted this illness. And I know what that does to parents when you see that. So, I want you to know here in New York, it's not here - we're in good shape, but we are ready in case those circumstances change when you see just neighboring states going through what we're trying to avoid here.

So, we'll talk about what we're going to keep doing. I want to talk about best defense. For all of us right now, it's a flu shot. I'll be subjecting my arm to a flu shot momentarily and you all can watch, and I promise I will not grimace. I practiced not grimacing in front of you. So, let's get it done. I mean, it's just the easiest thing you could do. Just get a flu shot. I will get mine now. Some wait until the dead of winter, but it's hitting earlier than normal right now, so don't wait for December, January, February - it's too late. You could have protected yourself. So, it's starting earlier. Right now, as of Monday, over three million New Yorkers have already had their flu shots. That's good. But our population's a little bit bigger than three million, so it's as easy as calling your doctor, walking into any pharmacy.

And my other question is, how's our flu shot supply? Do we have enough shots available? And I'm assured by everybody - I'm always asking about our numbers - that we have more than enough because there's enough facilities that manufacture the flu vaccine. And unlike what we saw with COVID in the early months, there just weren't enough people manufacturing it. So, we're in good shape there.

So, let's talk about exactly what RSV is. These are the symptoms; I want parents to be aware of them. Usually fall and winter, it's like a common cold, but it does hit younger children and it's really frightening. It's not new at all - something we've seen before. But you know, infants as young as six months old have been known to contract this. So, you know, it's hard to keep kids safe. You know, think about the fact that a year ago, you know, before a year ago, a lot of kids were wearing masks in a daycare center or in schools, and that did give them some level of protection. We're not mandating this, but we're saying, "Parents, you know, you got other kids, you got kids in school, preschool, and you got a baby at home. You really might just want to take these extra precautions."

And by now, kids are more socialized to the idea of wearing a mask. It's not as strange to them. It's not as like, "What is this all about?" There's really cute masks out there. I've seen a lot of them. So that's something I'm encouraging all parents to consider for their children right now, and we're talking about how we can stop the spread. Right now, the spread of RSV in New York State is no different than previous years, so I'm really not being an alarmist, I'm just trying to be proactive here.

And so, we're going to stay in touch with our local health departments constantly to see if they're seeing any spikes or any trends that we should be aware of, and we'll keep watching that as well. We're launching a public awareness campaign so parents know the symptoms, what to do and how they can keep their kids safe. And these are the symptoms: fever, cough, stuffy nose, decreased appetite. And again, we have frequently asked questions on our website as well, so I want to make sure you know all about that.

So, RSV services for health care are fully covered by insurance companies as well, so that includes testing and treatment. And if you have any coverage issues, let us know. If someone tells you it's not covered, our Department of Financial Services will help take care of that, and you can file a complaint. Also, we've never taken our eyes off of COVID. We announced our fall action plan back on July 20. Many of you joined us. We talked about exactly the strategies we are taking because what we've learned about this pandemic is you just never can tell. This time last year, we were going through Delta, never saw Omicron on the horizon until March - until November 26. And then it hit us harder than anywhere else. So, we're always watching, but again, just to give everybody an update, the last time we gave an update was about two months ago. I want to - on a regular schedule, every couple of months - make sure everyone knows what we're up to.

So, we had our back-to-school plan on August 22, talking about keeping our kids safely in schools, encouraging people to stay home if they feel sick, always get tested - It's the easiest thing to do. We are right now stockpiling everything we need to be able to deal with this. So, we're ready again for the fall surge. Coordinating with our federal and state partners as new variants around the horizon, we're going to keep our eyes on those as well. So, I'll tell you about some the numbers where we are. Still, that's a positive sign. Remember, it was November till February, it was a frightening time.

You look at the spike in those numbers, our peak was 90,000 cases. 90,000 over a seven-day average. We're at about 3,400 right now, so a dramatic decrease in that. We had 70-average per hundred thousand, it's 17 now. At one time, it was 366. Hospitalizations are down about 2,700, down from 10,000. We learned a lot of lessons about making sure our hospitals could handle the capacity. And our deaths per seven-day-average is still - people are dying every day from Covid. It is not over. About 34 deaths is yesterday and our hearts go out to their families, the people probably never expected this to happen, especially as we approach the holidays. So, hospitalizations and deaths are stable, but covid is still a threat. But now we have the new vaccine, the bivalent booster, it's actually effective against Omicron because here's what I have to make sure people don't think: If you got your shot, you got your booster a while back, "I got it last year, I'm all good." No, no, you need to get it updated because this is especially tailored to the variants that are out there right now. They were not there before; this is designed to be able to be stronger for you.

So, we're really encouraging to people to just get their updates. I got mine on September 7th, feeling great. And also, anyone over five is eligible to get this, now that's a new development. So, if you have a five-year-old, get them in to get a booster, especially when they're sitting in a classroom with so many other kids. Kids aren't wearing masks as much, they're playing together. Please help to stop this spread in your own home. And I would say that you don't have to worry about supply of that either, we're checking on how we are doing. We have enough doses for more than 20 percent right now, and only 7 percent of people have taken advantage of it. So, there's plenty, plenty, plenty out there. So, what are you waiting for? I just want to add: The media, I appreciate you coming out here and helping us spread the news about this because I know, again, it's frightening if you are watching the news, "Is that coming? Are my babies safe? Are my kids safe?"

And I just wanted you to know how seriously we're taking this, and we know that COVID is going to be with us in the long term. The flu is going to continue being with us. RSV is going to pop up, but when you have the convergence of all three at the same time, it does create pressure on certain healthcare systems. But here in the State of New York, we are in a very good place. So, everyone does their part, gets their flu shot, make sure their children are protected, practice good hygiene, stay safe during the winter and we are always here to help. I also have Dr. Mary Bassett who will be ready to answer some questions, but before we get to the questions, I think I'll do what I have to do here. Nurse Marie is going to take care of me. All right. You seem very chipper for what you're about to do to me.