New York COVID-19 positive rate doubles in three days

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The COVID-19 positivity rate doubled in three days in New York City as the new Omicron variant spread throughout the country.

According to Mayor Bill de Blasio, the variant is spreading quickly, and the city will be rolling out measures to combat the virus.

"We have seen a very substantial increase in COVID cases in the past few days," de Blasio said, according to ABC7. "It is clear that the omicron variant is here in New York City in full force, and we are announcing a series of measures."

New measures include issuing a health advisory including recommendations for mask wearing, vaccination, testing and booster shots. Officials also are increasing testing capacity with more mobile sites and expanded hours of operation.

Dr. Jay Varma -- senior health adviser to the mayor -- said in a series of tweets that the spike was a sign of omicron's rapid spread and ability to "evade immunity."

"Um, we've never seen this before," he tweeted, noting that test positivity rose from 3.9% on Dec. 9 to 7.8% on Dec. 12.

"This is #SARSCoV2 evading both vaccine & virus induced immunity *against infection* unlike any variant before. That's only explanation for dramatic jump in positivity. Consensus for now (but subject to change) is that immunity *against severe disease* should be far better," he continued.