ALBANY, N.Y. — During a news conference Wednesday morning, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo addressed the current COVID-19 hospitalization rates and positivity rates across the state.
Once again, Governor Cuomo is calling out the Finger Lakes, saying it has been a problem for the past several weeks and isn't getting better. The Finger Lakes currently has a COVID-19 infection rate of 8.48 percent on Tuesday, a .09 percent increase from Monday.
When looking at the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in terms of a region's population, the Finger Lakes is reporting the highest percentage in the state. There are currently 816 people hospitalized in the Finger Lakes, which equates to .07 percent of the region's population. The state reports that 33 percent of hospital beds are available in the region.
On Monday, the governor said the infection rate in the Finger Lakes is a problem for Western New York, since the regions are next to each other.
"Finger Lakes is a problem because they are part of Western New York," Cuomo said. "There is a lot of travel between Western New York — Buffalo, Erie County, Monroe County, etc. And you can't have two contiguous areas where one has a low infection rate and one has a high infection rate, because the high infection rate winds up infecting the lower infection rate."
However, Cuomo said Wednesday that Western New York is making progress.
The COVID-19 infection rate dropped from 6.49 percent on Monday to 6.39 on Tuesday. And in terms of hospitalization, 484 people are hospitalized in the region, which is .04 percent of Western New York's population. Currently, 31 percent of hospital beds are available in the region.
Of those hospitalized, 322 are in the ICU, and 42 percent of ICU beds are available.
With the holidays upon us, the governor is asking New Yorkers to celebrate smart. Cuomo says the next 10 days are key for the state, adding he wants to do everything he can to avoid another shutdown. Cuomo added that the state can't survive with economic shutdowns.
"Celebrate. But just be smart about the way you celebrate, right? Avoid the density, open the windows, take a walk outside," Cuomo said. "Just be smart about the way you celebrate. Celebrate smart, stop the shutdowns. That's what's going to be on all our travel signs and flashing signs."
The governor also gave an update regarding vaccinations. Cuomo says as of Wednesday, 89,000 New Yorkers have received the first dose, adding that in the first two days of vaccinating nursing homes, 90 facilities received vaccinations, with 22,000 vaccines administered.
The state is also finding there are 11 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine per vial, instead of the original expectancy of 10 doses.