WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – New York state may be over the hump when it comes to the wintertime surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We believe we’re finally turning the corner on the winter wave,” Kathy Hochul said at a briefing in New York City Tuesday. “Just like the snow is melting, hopefully these numbers will continue to melt away.
The governor said the number of positive cases statewide dropped by 92 percent in about three weeks.
“It is hard to believe that on January 7, we had 90,000 positive cases in our state,” she said. “Today, first of February: 7,119. That’s an extraordinary drop.”
Hochul said the seven-day average for positivity is also on the decline. As of Monday, it was 5.9 percent, a 17-point drop from the peak of 23 percent on January 2.
Hospitalizations, she said, have dropped 43 percent.
“The numbers are trending down,” she said. “We’re still going to take this seriously, though. This is not saying it’s over.”
She said it’s still too early to lift the statewide mask mandate, which, at this point, is set to end on February 10.
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