NY and the northeast were hit hard early last spring in the 1st wave. This was before face mask mandates. Many people got very sick, I think because they got large doses of virus when out in public (such as on NY subways, stores and so forth. Cuomo and some other DEM governors put covid patients in nursing homes, which infected a lot of old people and many died.

The democrat governors also crashed their states economies with mass shutdowns. I think masks (if enough wear them, and I'm for just voluntary compliance) this winter will keep the virus from being as deadly and allow businesses to stay open.