Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that the state is seeing an alarming rise in pediatric COVID-19 cases.

Hochul urged parents who have children old enough to be vaccinated to get the shot.

State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said the rapid rise in cases among young people is alarming.

"Among children who are under 5 and are too little to get vaccinated, no vaccine is approved for this age group — it's gone up nearly eightfold. And in older teens it's gone up tenfold. This is faster than in adults who have gone up between two to two-and-a-half-fold," Bassett said.

According to Hochul, COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than doubled in the state since Dec. 21.

Dr. Steven Corwin, the head of New York Presbyterian Hospital, said of the COVID-19 patients in his hospitals, about half are vaccinated and half are not. But he added that it's been very rare to see someone admitted who has had received a booster shot.

He later added one of the few optimistic comments of the briefing.

"We think with our modeling that the peak will happen next week. We've also seen some leveling the past couple of days. Fingers crossed that that does represent a plateau," Corwin said.

Hochul also gave a warning for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman who said the county will not enforce the state's mandate of indoor mask-wearing. He also issued an order that gives schools the option of deciding whether to issue a mask mandate, despite the state's order that they do.

"Those who underestimate me do so at their own peril, including the county executive of Nassau County. I have the law of the state of New York behind me," Hochul said. "Those who choose to defy that will understand that there are consequences and fines, and cessation of funding, which I don't think the school districts will want to deal with in the first place."

Blakeman issued a response. It reads, “Nassau County is focusing on meaningful initiatives such as free testing, free vaccinations and free KN95 masks for teachers and school staff. We must return personal decision-making to families, and normalcy to students (many of whom face depression, anxiety and other mental health issues from these restrictions). Everyone has lived under Gov. Hochul’s renewed mask mandate for nearly a month now (and just about a year and a half for children), yet we have the highest case loads ever.”

Hochul also said that 58% of all people hospitalized in New York state right now have coronavirus.

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