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Hudson Valley counties were reporting a total of 1,311 newly confirmed COVID-19 infections on Thursday, April 1, as the region continues contending with the latest spike of cases across the country.
The average seven-day positive infection rate of those tested in the Hudson Valley rose for the third straight day, from 4.75 percent to 4.87 percent, easily the highest in New York, ahead of Long Island (4.39 percent), and New York City (4.34 percent).
None of the state's other seven regions has a positive infection rate above 4 percent.
Statewide during that time, the positivity rate rose from 3.43 percent to 3.58 percent as the state combats the latest rise of new cases.
Eight new COVID-19-related fatalities brought the death toll in the Hudson Valley to 4,414 since the pandemic began.
As of April 1, there were 543 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the Hudson Valley, up slightly, representing 0.02 percent of the region's population and leaving 43 percent of the region's hospital beds still available.
The state was also reporting 404 of the region's 679 ICU beds as occupied by COVID-19 patients, leaving 41 percent available in case of another surge of the virus.
A breakdown of new cases in each of the Hudson Valley's seven counties is as follows:
- Westchester: 584 new (120,316 total);
- Orange County: 252 (43,483);
- Dutchess: 186 (26,230);
- Rockland: 133 (43,718);
- Ulster County: 79 (12,058);
- Sullivan: 41 (5,576);
- Putnam: 36 (9,563);
- Total: 1,311 (259,861).
New deaths were also reported in:
- Westchester: 5 (2,199 total);
- Orange: 5 (676);
- Rockland: 2 (721);
- Ulster: 1 (238);
- Sullivan: 1 (65).
- Dutchess: 0 (425);
- Putnam: 0 (90);
- Total: 14 (4,414).
There were 239,652 COVID-19 tests administered in New York on Wednesday, March 31, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resulting in 8,888 newly confirmed infections for a 3.71 percent positive infection rate, down slightly from the previous day.
Forty-seven new COVID-19 patients were discharged from New York hospitals, leaving 4,604 still being treated statewide. There are 894 in ICU and 545 intubated.
There were 56 new COVID-19-related deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
More than 31 percent of New Yorkers have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 18.5 percent are fully vaccinated. A total of 626,088 first doses have been administered to Hudson Valley residents, while 334,114 have completed the process.
"We've been aided throughout the state's fight with COVID-19 by the willingness of New Yorkers to play by the rules and keep themselves and their families safe, and we need them to maintain that vigilance even in light of increased vaccinations across the state," Cuomo said. "Every single day, more shots go in arms and more New Yorkers are fully vaccinated, and we're continuing to expand eligibility and open new sites to get those numbers even higher.
"However, New Yorkers' social behavior is very important, and actions like washing hands, wearing masks and social distancing make a huge difference in our ability to slow the spread," Cuomo added. "We've made progress in this fight, but there's still a long way to go, so I urge everyone to stay vigilant."
Statewide, a total of 1,858,432 positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed out of nearly 45 million tests that have been administered. There have been a total of 40,513 virus-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
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