The tri-state region prepares for potential fallout from Thanksgiving super-spreader events as New Jersey’s commissioner of health enters quarantine following a positive test from a staffer.
New York's statewide positivity rate for the coronavirus rose to a new high for the fall season aided by the increase in the state's 29 different micro-cluster zones -- the highest zone held a 7-day average just shy of 10 percent.
The state's positivity rate has continued to climb in recent weeks, jumping from 3.08 percent on Monday to 3.98 percent by Saturday, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. While the most recent day reflects the highest positivity rate seen in months, the 7-day average sits a bit lower at 3.32 percent.
Western New York continues to pull ahead from the other regions, reaching an average positivity of 6.53 percent as of Saturday. State data shows the region holds a rate 2 percent above the second highest region: the Finger Lakes.
Eric County, which sits in the region and where Buffalo is located, reported the highest number of new cases Saturday outside of New York City. The county, right now, holds both an orange and yellow micro-cluster zone.
"We are entering a challenging period of sustained COVID-19 spread across this state," Cuomo said in a Saturday press release. "It's up to you, your neighborhood and your community to slow the spread."
Daily Percentage of Positive Tests by New York Region
Gov. Andrew Cuomo breaks the state into 10 regions for testing purposes and tracks positivity rates to identify potential hotspots. Here's the latest tracking data by region and for the five boroughs. For the latest county-level results statewide, click here
Source: ny.gov
Additional testing begins for students in Rockland County's yellow zone on Monday. The school district in the zone has until Dec. 9 to test 20 percent of students and staff, per the state's requirement once a yellow zone designation is declared.
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Minors must bring a parent consent form to get tested at the new sites. Testing will be provided by staff from Good Samaritan Hospital.
Testing for members of the school communities in the zone runs Monday to Friday between 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the following locations:
- Monday: Palisades Center Mall Garage Entrance. This is a drive-up site or walk-up for those arriving by bus.
- Tuesday: Suffern High School located at 49 Viola Road in Suffern
- Wednesday: Spring Valley High School located at 361 E. Route 59 in Spring Valley
- Thursday: Rockland BOCES, Bldg. 10 located at 65 Parrott Road in West Nyack.
- Friday: Palisades Center Mall Garage Entrance. This is a drive-up site or walk-up for those arriving by bus.
Saturday's report from the state followed two straight days of record testing -- performing 219,442 tests on Thursday. The number of New Yorkers hospitalized for the coronavirus was 3,287, up by 184 from the previous day.
The U.S. reached 13 million diagnosed cases of Covid-19 on Friday, another milestone in a month riddled with them.
It was the fourth such marker the country has counted in November, which has seen 3.8 million cases of the coronavirus. The U.S. is on pace to tally more than 4 million cases this month alone, more than doubling the previous record of 1.9 million cases set in October.
