New York Officials Worried About ‘Uptick’ in COVID Cases

COVID cases in New York are increasing as the state announced a COVID positivity rate not reported since mid-February.

On Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul updated New Yorkers on the state's progress in combating COVID-19. 3.15 percent of all tests came back positive in the previous 24 hours.

This marks the first time New York State has reported a daily COVID positivity rate above 3 percent in about six weeks.

"As we continue to closely monitor an uptick in cases, I want to remind New Yorkers that the vaccine and booster are our best tools to move forward safely through this pandemic," Hochul said.

Valentine's Day was the last time New York officials reported a daily positivity rate over 3 percent, according to the New York State COVID-19 Dashboard.

The 7-day positivity rate is now 2.43 percent. Hochul reported nine more New Yorkers died from COVID. 102 New Yorkers were admitted to the hospital. 845 New Yorkers are currently hospitalized with COVID with 127 in ICU and 59 in ICU with intubation.

"This is the time to remain vigilant, so please get fully vaccinated and boosted as soon as you can. If you feel sick, get tested and limit your exposure to others. If you test positive, talk to a doctor right away about treatments," Hochul added.

New York officials say COVID is spreading the most in the Central New York region. The 7-day average percentage of positive test results in the Central New York region is 9.11 percent. The Mid-Hudson region is at 2.33 percent, New York City is at 1.80 percent.

Central New York's 7-day average of cases per 100K population is 48.65. The Hudson Valley's metric is 12.67 percent.

New York officials are worried about an Omicron subvariant, BA.2. It's considered to be more contagious than Omicron. The Omicron subvariant is now the dominant COVID variant in the United States.