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Governor Hochul tests positive for COVID-19

The governor made the announcement on social media Sunday afternoon, on a day where she had plans to visit Washington, D.C. Instead, she stayed home.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Gov. Kathy Hochul has tested positive for COVID.

The governor made the announcement on social media Sunday afternoon, on a day where she had plans to visit Washington, D.C.

Hochul did not make that trip and instead stayed in Albany, in isolation. The governor said she will be working remotely this week.

"Today I tested positive for COVID-19," Hochul said. "Thankfully, I’m vaccinated and boosted, and I’m asymptomatic. I’ll be isolating and working remotely this week. A reminder to all New Yorkers: get vaccinated and boosted, get tested, and stay home if you don’t feel well."

Last month, Hochul announced that despite a federal court ruling in Florida, New York will still require masks on public transit, which includes buses and bus stations, trains and train stations, subways and subway stations, as well as airports.

Masks are also be required in state-regulated health care settings, state-regulated adult care facilities and nursing homes, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, and domestic violence shelters.

On Saturday, the Democratic governor had tweeted a photo from the Olana State Historic Site outside Hudson, New York, which she visited to thank park volunteers.

Hochul's positive test comes amid rising case numbers in New York. For weeks, much of upstate New York has been in the high-alert orange zone, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designation that reflects serious community spread.

New York City last week crossed the city’s threshold for “medium risk,” indicating the widening spread of the subvariant knowns as BA.2 that has swept the state’s northern reaches.

Hochul is among several U.S. governors to test positive in recent months. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Maine Gov. Janet Mills tested positive in April. New York City Mayor Eric Adams tested positive for COVID-19 on April 10, his 100th day in office.

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