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On Monday, Sept. 28, there were 9,948 people tested in the Hudson Valley, with 202 returning positive, bringing the infection rate to 2 percent, ahead of Western New York (1.3 percent), New York City (1.3 percent), and Long Island (1.2 percent).
No other region was above 1 percent as the statewide infection rate rose to 1.3 percent.
During a COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in Manhattan, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the spike in the Hudson Valley was largely caused by two Rockland County zip codes and one Orange County locale.
The specific zip codes cited were 10950 (Monroe, Woodbury, Kiryas Joel, South Blooming Grove, Walk-on Park), 10952 (Monsey, Wesley Hills, Airmont, Kaser, Spring Valley, Chestnut Ridge, Viola), and 10977 (Spring Valley, New Hempstead, Monsey).
Cuomo said that now they’ve identified the hotspots, they plan to aggressively target those clusters through testing and compliance.
On Sept. 28, the state conducted hundreds of tests at the areas they’ve seen spikes:
- 10950: 211 tests administered resulted in 39 (18 percent) positive cases;
- 10952: 154 tests administered resulted in 15 (10 percent) positive cases;
- 10977: 330 tests administered resulted in 27 (8 percent) positive cases.
“We’re going to have many more tests and testing resources in those clusters … this is a firefighting drill for us,” Cuomo said, noting that the 20 “hotspot” zip codes had a 5 percent positive rate as compared to the statewide positive rate of 1.3 percent.
“At this point, we have these clusters, and it’s a cluster problem caused by a lack of compliance … that’s how a cluster problem starts,” Cuomo continued. “If you don’t control that cluster, then you’ll have community spread.”
Though the clusters are a cause of concern, Cuomo said that there’s no immediate plan to start rolling back on the state’s reopening plan or to shut down any schools or businesses.
“We’re not there yet on closing as long as this can be held to clusters,” he said. “What (local governments) have done (in the clusters) has not worked. And that is why there’s a cluster. When the infection rate is at or near 20 percent in some zip codes, then that means because are going to die.”
Statewide, there were 88,231 COVID-19 tests administered yesterday, with 1,189 (1.3 percent) testing positive. There are currently 571 people hospitalized with the virus and there were two new fatalities.
Since the pandemic began, New York has administered 10,649,353 COVID-19 tests, with 457,649 testing positive. A total of 25,470 New Yorkers have died since mid-March.
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