ALBANY, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Governor Andrew Cuomo Thursday said New York State continues to lead the way in COVID-19 testing, with more than 145,000 test results being reported to the state Wednesday. The statewide infection rate remains low, but COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise.
Of the record amount of tests results reported Wednesday, only about 1.01% came back positive. This 1.01 COVID-19 positive rate does not include the hot spots in New York, which Governor Cuomo says makeup about six percent of the population.
In the hot spots, which are primarily Downstate, the positive rate from Wednesday’s tests was about 5.8%.
Statewide, the number of hospitalizations slightly increased Wednesday, with 754 New Yorkers now being hospitalized with COVID-19.
According to the New York State Health Department, from August 20 until September 22, the number of hospitalizations in New York State was consistently below 500. However, during the last 15 days, the number of New Yorkers hospitalized with coronavirus has risen by about 250.
754 COVID-19 hospitalizations is the most the state has seen since July 16.
Wednesday’s COVID-19 positive rates for all ten regions, according to Governor Cuomo:
- Capital Region – 0.5%
- Central New York – 1%
- Finger Lakes – 0.3%
- Long Island – 1%
- Mid-Hudson – 2.2%
- Mohawk Valley – 0.5%
- North Country – 0.7%
- Southern Tier – 1.3%
- Western New York – 1.4%
- New York City – 1.2%
At his conference call Thursday, Governor Cuomo continued to ask local governments to enforce the law in regards to COVID-19. The governor reiterated that COVID-19 is a public health emergency and the law must be enforced.
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