COVID-19 Hospitalizations Now Exceed 2,000 in NY For First Time Since June

More people are now hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York than the state has seen since early June, according to data released by the state Tuesday, with the positivity rate for the virus exceeding 3% for the second time in as many weeks.

As of Monday, the latest data available, there were 2,124 people hospitalized with the disease in New York — an increase of 156 over Sunday.

That’s the largest increase in hospitalizations in the current phase of the virus, which has been on the rise in New York in the last several weeks. The state has responded with new restrictions in pockets of the state where the positivity rate exceeds a certain threshold based on the region.

Cuomo said the rise in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in New York can be party attributed to the national surge of COVID-19, but urged individuals to continue taking precautions.

"The number of cases across the country and in New York are only continuing to climb,” Cuomo said. “Despite our success in managing the spread, New York is not immune to this national surge of COVID.”

The percent of COVID-19 results that returned positive results on Monday reached 3.18% statewide — another new high in the latest phase of the virus in New York.

Western New York, which includes the Buffalo-Niagara region, reported the highest positivity rate Monday at 6.5%. Central New York reported the second-highest at 4.5%, and the Mid-Hudson region was at 4.3%.

The Southern Tier, which was recently experiencing a surge of COVID-19, is now reporting the lowest positivity rate at 0.7%. The North Country was second-lowest, with a 2.2% positivity rate.

Statewide, there were 5,088 people diagnosed with the virus Monday, according to the state. While more than half of those cases were in areas of New York City and the surrounding suburbs, Erie County alone reported 392 cases Monday.

Erie County also reported a disproportionately high number of deaths from COVID-19 Monday. Of the 29 deaths reported statewide, 11 of them were in Erie County. That’s more than any other county, or borough, reported Monday.