Facing the threat of the fast-spreading Omicron variant, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said on Thursday that her administration would create a portal through which residents could request that coronavirus tests be sent to their homes, and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City announced a six-step plan to combat a winter surge.
Under Ms. Hochul’s plan, New York will join a handful of states, including neighboring New Jersey, in offering home delivery of tests as part of a growing effort to ensure broad access. Mr. de Blasio’s plan includes expanding the hours and capacity of testing sites, distributing a million free KN-95 masks and 500,000 home tests through community organizations, increasing enforcement of mask and vaccine mandates, and encouraging more New Yorkers to get boosters.
Ms. Hochul said the state would not be able to mail tests to all New Yorkers, suggesting that they would be “microtargeted” to areas where vaccination is lagging and cases are high. She urged New Yorkers to get vaccinated and boosted, and described at-home tests as a tool that unvaccinated people could use to avoid infecting others.
“We’re making sure they at least know if they’re contagious, so they have the sense to stay home,” she said.
The governor opened her briefing with a presentation from the new state health commissioner, Mary Bassett, on the trajectory of the virus in Norway and Denmark, where drastic spikes have been predicted. Because of how fast Omicron appears to be spreading, they cautioned, New York could see heightened levels of spread and increased hospitalizations as a result of the sheer number of possible new cases, regardless of whether the variant proves to cause more severe illness.
The Delta variant remains the dominant version across the United States, but the C.D.C. recently reported that in the region encompassing New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, about 13 percent of cases were Omicron.
Ms. Hochul reiterated that the rising case numbers and hospitalizations were both serious and expected, and defended her new mandate, which went into effect on Monday and requires people to wear masks indoors in public unless proof of full vaccination is required for entry.
Several new laboratory studies indicate that vaccines, and especially boosters, may offer substantial protection against the worst outcomes from the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant. Still, the new variant will infect many people who have been vaccinated or recovered from older versions of the virus, according to the research.
Previously, the Hochul administration announced it would make a million at-home tests available through vaccination sites, testing sites, booster sites and schools.
At-home tests have become one of the hottest commodities this holiday season, with kits flying off the shelves. Ms. Hochul said she hoped more kits would become available now that the number of companies manufacturing them has increased to 13 from eight. The Biden administration recently announced that it would soon require private insurers to reimburse people for at-home tests, although consumers will still pay the cost up front.
To help alleviate the financial burden of testing, experts advise people to contact their employer’s human resources department or benefits to ask about available testing resources, or to contact their local health departments to ask whether and where free tests might be available.
New York City, for instance, runs “Covid Express” testing sites throughout the city, promising to return P.C.R. results in 24 hours or less. Most residents receive their results the same day, the health department says. The tests are available by appointment only but are free for all New Yorkers.
The federal government has suggested that it may make more funding available to handle testing given the Omicron surge.
“It’s as bad as we expected,” Ms. Hochul said Thursday, urging New Yorkers to follow public health guidance in the face of a winter wave. “We’re asking people to follow common sense. Get vaccinated, get boosted. Please don’t take a chance.”
In New York City, the seven-day average of new daily cases has tripled in the past month, Dr. Dave Chokshi, the city’s health commissioner, said on Thursday, and the city expects it to continue increasing. Only 1.5 million New Yorkers, or about 22 percent of adults, have gotten a booster or additional dose, according to city statistics.
“The data is showing an alarming trend,” Dr. Chokshi said. The city’s test positivity rate was now above 5 percent and has risen quickly over the past few days, he added, “and we believe that is attributable primarily to the spread of Omicron.”