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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the “yellow zone” designation in Orange County has been removed after making progress and demonstrating low COVID-19 positive infection numbers over several weeks.
Earlier this month, a portion of Orange County saw a spike in new cases, with the positive infection rate climbing near double digits, leading Cuomo and the state's health officials to place additional restrictions on schools, gatherings, and non-essential businesses in parts of the county.
The last recorded COVID-19 positivity rate in New York was at 3.43 percent, according to the Department of Health. The test positivity rate in the state’s “micro-cluster” focus areas is at 4.73 percent, and the statewide rate excluding the clusters is 3.10 percent.
“Those (micro-cluster) areas are astronomical compared to the rest of the state," Cuomo said. "What's the good news? The good news is micro-clusters work. Following the rules works. Broome and Orange Counties were yellow zones and they're now back to normal.
“Brooklyn was an orange zone and is being dropped to a yellow zone,” he added. “So the restrictions work. And just to make it very simple, if you socially distanced, and you wore a mask, and you were smart, none of this would be a problem. It's all self-imposed."
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