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In Nassau County, 742 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 146,727, while there were 675 new infections reported in Suffolk as the number of cases hit 160,967.
On Long Island, the COVID-19 positivity rate of those tested has dropped in the past three days from 4.10 percent to 4.08 percent on Thursday, Feb. 25.
Statewide, the infection rate dipped slightly from 3.36 percent to 3.22 percent over the same stretch.
As of Friday, Feb. 26, there were 944 COVID-19 patients - down from 1,005 earlier in the week - hospitalized on Long Island, representing 0.03 percent of the region's population.
The state was also reporting 690 of Long Island's 865 ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, leaving 22 percent available in case of another surge of the virus.
If Long Island - or any of the state's nine other regions - finds itself in danger of hitting its 90 percent hospital capacity rate within three weeks, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to shut down the entire region.
Seven new COVID-19 fatalities were reported in Suffolk, as the total rose to 3,061, according to the state, and there were six in Nassau, as the death toll climbed to 2,901 since the pandemic began.
The latest breakdown of the communities with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in Nassau, according to the most recent data provided by the county Department of Health on Feb. 26:
- Levittown: 3,968;
- Hicksville: 3,214;
- Freeport: 3,183;
- Hempstead: 3,188;
- East Meadow: 2,935;
- Valley Stream: 2,839;
- Oceanside: 2,437;
- Elmont: 2,415;
- Long Beach: 2,404;
- Franklin Square: 2,348;
- Glen Cove: 2,229;
- Uniondale: 2,087;
- Massapequa: 1,768;
- Rockville Centre: 1,748;
- Baldwin: 1,590;
- Woodmere: 1,560;
- Plainview: 1,511;
- West Hempstead: 1,494
- North Bellmore: 1,473;
- Wantagh: 1,449;
- North Massapequa: 1,446;
- Lynbrook: 1,409;
- Mineola: 1,401;
- Merrick: 1,395;
- Garden City: 1,367;
- Massapequa Park: 1,366;
- East Massapequa: 1,358;
- Seaford: 1,348;
- Bethpage: 1,276.
The breakdown of cases reported in Suffolk County, according to the Department of Health:
- Brookhaven: 44,965;
- Islip: 39,866;
- Babylon: 22,357;
- Huntington: 18,119;
- Smithtown: 11,241;
- Southampton: 4,771;
- Riverhead: 2,999;
- Southold: 1,431;
- East Hampton: 1,422;
- Shelter Island: 45.
There were 291,189 COVID-19 tests administered in New York on Feb. 25, according to Cuomo, resulting in 8,204 new cases for a 2.82 percent positive infection rate, down slightly from the previous day
Seventy-seven COVID-19 patients were released from New York hospitals, leaving 5,626 still being treated statewide. There are 1,132 in ICU and 771 intubated.
There were 95 new COVID-19-related deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
Cuomo made note that 91 percent of the first COVID-19 vaccine doses allocated to New Have have been administered as of 11 a.m. on Feb. 26.
A total of 2,942,765 first doses have been received, with 2,674,839 administered. New York has received 4,761,410 first and second doses, with 4,170,422 administered.
"Defeating COVID-19 is front and center in New York State, and declining positivity rates and hospitalizations are aiding our efforts to vaccinate more New Yorkers, reopen the economy and get to the light at the end of the tunnel," Cuomo said. "New Yorkers' resilience and willingness to follow the rules got us through the Spring and the holiday surge, and it is getting us through the winter.
"We're vaccinating New Yorkers at a fast clip and expanding our network of distribution sites as fast as we can, but we're going to need more vaccines to address a large enough portion of the population to defeat this pandemic once and for all," Cuomo continued. "I'm confident that we will get there, but in the meantime New Yorkers need to continue social distancing, wearing masks and washing their hands. We wear masks not just to protect ourselves, but to protect each other, and that spirit will get us through the coming months as we work to beat the COVID beast."
Statewide, a total of 1,606,520 positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed out of 37.25 million tests that have been administered. There have been a total of 38,227 virus-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
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