"It's still alive," New York City Councilmember Lynn Schulman said.
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You don't have to tell Schulman there's an uptick in cases. She's the new chair of the New York City Council Committee on Health and she caught the virus just a few weeks ago. She still has a lingering cough.
"I had flu like symptoms, I had a searing sore throat, which I was told was one of the variants that's around," she said. "But I went to a local hospital in my area and got the antibody treatment, so that helped a lot."
She said she was vaccinated and boosted, which kept her out of the hospital. That's what she's encouraging everyone to do as the city's' risk level recently elevated from "low" to "medium" community spread.
"People are being more relaxed now," she said. "People are not wearing masks as much. People are, including myself, are like, well, you know, you want to be with people and all that. I think that it's just a sign that we do have to be more vigilant."
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Areas with some of the highest positivity rates include Lincoln Square, with more than 19% over the past seven days, as well as Long Island City, the Flushing/Murray Hill area of Queens, and Breezy Point.
Is your neighborhood among the highest in the city? Check out this interactive map, just hover over your zip code:
"It depends on the circumstances, with some areas people are at more gatherings, things like that," Schulman said.
Experts say the positivity rate is most likely higher than reported with many people doing at home testing.
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The city's health commissioner recently said there are no plans to bring back mask mandates, but that could change.
Meanwhile, the council's health chair says her top priority is increasing hospital capacity, especially in Queens which has some of the lowest in the area.
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