COVID Rates Continue to Drop: Lowest Numbers Since Oct. 22

 Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the statewide COVID-19 positivity rate dropped yesterday to 1.27%, which is the lowest that number has been since Oct. 22.

     In addition, for the first time since Nov. 5, 2020, the positivity rate in every region of New York State dropped below 3%.

    Gov. Cuomo also noted a continued reduction in COVID deaths, which he considers the most important statistic as he monitors what everyone hopes to be the final stages of the pandemic.

   “For people who say [the pandemic] is over, this is a creation of the media, the politicians, people are still dying,” said Gov. Cuomo, who noted that 31 New Yorkers died from COVID on Monday and 23 died yesterday.

    As positivity and hospitalizations continue to drop and return to levels that the state has not seen since before the surge that took place because of increased holiday travel and socializing at the end of 2020, Gov. Cuomo continues to “reopen the valve,” he said, on the economy and the activities that are permissible in the state.

     "As we make progress defeating the COVID beast, and the numbers continue to come down, we are incrementally reopening our economy based on the science and the data," Gov. Cuomo said. “We watch the positivity rate, the hospitalization rate, and the vaccination rate because those numbers change. Then, we calibrate our reopening.”

  Although Gov. Cuomo worried that vaccination rates were slowing for the first time, he was optimistic, as he announced the availability of vaccines at Mets and Yankees games this summer.

   "This is all good news, but we aren't through this pandemic yet. It's essential that New Yorkers continue to practice safe behaviors like washing hands, wearing masks and socially distancing to slow the spread,” the governor said. “We need every single New Yorker to do their part and get vaccinated so we can begin to recover, reimagine and rebuild.

   “Life is not about going backward, but going forward.”

 (Photo by: Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)