ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo provided a Thanksgiving Day update to the COVID-19 efforts in WNY and New York State.
Gov. Cuomo says a record-high number of COVID-19 test results were reported to the state for Wednesday, November 26, 2020.
Of the 217,721 test results reported, 6,933 were positive, or 3.18%.
There are now 3,056 COVID-19 hospitalizations across NY, that's up 74 from Tuesday. Sixty-seven New York residents died of a COVID-19 related illness on Wednesday. According to the Governor's office, 15 of those deaths were in Erie County.
Cuomo says the positive rate in the state's micro-clusters zones, which includes Erie County and parts of Niagara County, is 4.90%.
"We know what's going on with the numbers because we're seen the movie in New York, we've seen the movie across the country. The positivity goes up, more people get sick, more people go into the hospital, more people go into the ICU, more people get intubated, and the death number goes up. Relative to the rest of the country, New York State is still doing phenomenally well and that's thanks to the good actions of New Yorkers," Governor Cuomo said. "On the winter plan, we're going to stay with the micro-cluster approach because that targets the spread, minimizes economic impact and stresses individual and community accountability. So that's working very well, and all the experts think that is state-of-the-art. The winter plan will include three elements—first, adding more factors to the micro-clusters. Second, the schools and the testing of the schools to keep them open at a rate that's sustainable. Third, a vaccine distribution plan. Happy Thanksgiving. Celebrate, please just do it safely. Let's not create more of an issue. Again, people have to appreciate the dichotomy here. The spread is going to be from pre-symptomatic people who don't even know they have the virus. It's not that they're going to be malicious. It's going to be accidental and involuntary. So what appears safe is no longer safe in this crazy world."