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The seven-day rolling positivity average has dipped to 4.46 percent after seeing it rise for nearly a week. The statewide average is also on the decline, from 3.28 percent the past two days to 3.26 percent on Thursday, March 18.
According to the state Department of Health, there were 702 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in Nassau, as the total rose to 160,103, while there were 711 cases reported in Suffolk for a total of 174,032 since the pandemic began more than a year ago.
Nine new COVID-19 fatalities in Suffolk brought the death toll to 3,194, while six new deaths in Nassau brought the total to 3,006.
As of Friday, March 19, there were 801 COVID-19 patients hospitalized on Long Island, representing 0.03 percent of the region's population and leaving 33 percent of hospital beds still available.
The state was also reporting 659 of Long Island's 857 ICU beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, leaving 23 percent available in case of another surge of the virus.
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 March 18:
- Levittown: 4,504;
- Hicksville: 3,677;
- Hempstead: 3,558;
- Freeport: 3,465;
- East Meadow: 3,264;
- Valley Stream: 3,186;
- Elmont: 2,769;
- Oceanside: 2,744;
- Long Beach: 2,717;
- Franklin Square: 2,673;
- Glen Cove: 2,509;
- Uniondale: 2,331;
- Massapequa: 1,986;
- Rockville Centre: 1,933;
- Baldwin: 1,806;
- Woodmere: 1,754;
- North Bellmore: 1,697;
- Plainview: 1,690;
- Wantagh: 1,687;
- West Hempstead: 1,658
- North Massapequa: 1,657;
- Mineola: 1,596;
- Lynbrook: 1,589;
- Merrick: 1,566;
- Garden City: 1,541;
- East Massapequa: 1,530;
- Massapequa Park: 1,519;
- Seaford: 1,497;
- Bethpage: 1,449.
The breakdown of cases reported in Suffolk County, according to the Department of Health:
- Brookhaven: 48,955;
- Islip: 42,954;
- Babylon: 24,290;
- Huntington: 19,873;
- Smithtown: 12,235;
- Southampton: 5,109;
- Riverhead: 3,246;
- Southold: 1,529;
- East Hampton: 1,495;
- Shelter Island: 49.
There were 278,590 COVID-19 tests administered in New York on March 18, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resulting in 8,262 new cases for a 2.97 percent positive infection rate, up slightly from the previous day.
Nine more COVID-19 patients were discharged from New York hospitals, leaving 4,527 still being treated statewide. There are 924 in ICU and 587 intubated.
There were 50 new COVID-19-related deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
"COVID is in decline and vaccines are accelerating," Cuomo said. "New Yorkers are beginning to look to the future and get our lives and our economy back up and running.
"It is important to remember that it was the dedication and grit of New Yorkers that brought us from the highest infection rate in the country to the lowest and it is with that same grit and determination that we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel."
Statewide, a total of 1,765,755 positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed out of more than 42.2 million tests that have been administered. There have been a total of 39,808 virus-related deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
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