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The COVID infection rate of those tested in the Hudson Valley was down to 3.62 percent on Thursday, April 13, continuing a weeklong slide, though it remains among the highest rates in the state, ahead of only Western New York (4.93 percent).
Statewide, the positivity rate is approaching 3 percent, down from 3.6 percent to 3.04 percent during that same stretch, the lowest in a month.
Seven hundred new COVID-19 cases were confirmed throughout the Hudson Valley, which is approaching 275,000 cumulative cases since the pandemic began last year.
There were three new virus-related deaths reported in the Hudson Valley - two in Westchester, one in Rockland - as the region surpassed 4,500 total fatalities this week.
As of Friday, April 16, there were 393 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the Hudson Valley, down slightly, representing 0.02 percent of the region's population and leaving 44 percent of the region's hospital beds still available.
The state was also reporting 413 of the region's 678 ICU beds as occupied by COVID-19 patients, up slightly, leaving 40 percent available in case of another new surge of the virus.
A breakdown of new cases in each of the Hudson Valley's seven counties is as follows:
- Westchester: 291 new (125,172 total);
- Orange County: 129 (45,884);
- Dutchess: 93 (27,813);
- Rockland: 88 (45,527);
- Sullivan: 41 (6,173);
- Ulster County: 37 (12,919);
- Putnam: 21 (10,134);
- Total: 700 (273,622).
New deaths were also reported in:
- Westchester: 2 (2,240 total);
- Rockland: 1 (740);
- Sullivan: 0 (68).
- Ulster: 0 (241);
- Orange: 0 (694);
- Dutchess: 0 (433);
- Putnam: 0 (91)
- Total: 3 (4,507).
There were 232,929 COVID-19 tests administered in New York on Thursday, April 15, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resulting in 6,555 newly confirmed infections for a 2.81 percent positive infection rate, up slightly from the day before.
As of April 16, there were 3,884 COVID-19 patients being treated in New York hospitals, down nearly 100 from the day before, the lowest number since November last year.
There were 43 new COVID-19-related deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
A total of more than 40 percent of New Yorkers over the age of 18 have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 27 percent are fully vaccinated.
As of Friday, 842,611 first doses have been administered to Hudson Valley residents, while 534,132 have completed the process, both among the highest rates in the state.
"COVID-19 hospitalizations are down to their lowest level since Nov. 30, which is basically Thanksgiving, so we are fully back to the point before the holiday surge. I want to make it especially clear that it is the actions of a community—the actions of individuals as a collective—that matter," Cuomo said. "We know how the virus spreads, so it's a question of your behavior and the precautions you take. The more precautions you take, the fewer people get infected.
"We're at a point now where we've communicated all the information that we can communicate and everyone knows the facts," Cuomo continued. "We've beseeched people to take it seriously, but it is now up to you. It's up to you as an individual, you as a family, you as a community. Our recovery is going to be a function of how many vaccinations we take, and I believe that there is a civic and community duty for individuals to take a vaccine. No one can be safe unless everyone is safe."
Statewide, a total of 1,970,990 positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed out of nearly 50 million tests that have been administered. There have been a total of 41,391 virus-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic
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