ALBANY, N.Y. — The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York State continues to decline, according to the latest data from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.
The governor's office reports that the number of statewide COVID hospitalizations has dropped below 5,000 for the first time since December 8.
As of Friday, 4,954 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in New York State, which is down 80 from the day prior. Of those hospitalized, 1,012 were in the ICU, and 694 of which required intubation.
Meanwhile, the statewide COVID-19 positivity rate also decreased Friday.
According to the governor's office, 273,132 tests were reported to the state on Friday. Of those tests, 7,647 came back positive for a percent positive rate of 2.8 percent. This is the lowest single-day positivity rate since November 21.
Here in the Western New York region, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped to 159, which equates to .01 percent of the region's population. At this time, 36 percent of hospital beds would be available within seven days under a "surge plan."
The region's percent positive rate also decreased, going from 1.98 percent on Thursday to 1.94 percent on Friday.
"Protecting New Yorkers and saving lives has always been our top priority, and we're seeing significant progress in reducing the spread of COVID while vaccinating residents as quickly as possible," Governor Cuomo said.
"As the COVID numbers decrease, we've been able to slowly open the valve and let economic activity increase, but we still have a lot of work to do to defeat this beast once and for all. Our vaccine distribution network is equipped to handle far more vaccines than the state currently receives, and there's no doubt we'll be able to kick vaccinations into overdrive once the supply increases. It's also critical that we continue making the vaccine accessible to all New Yorkers. We're going to get through this pandemic together, but we need everyone to continue taking it seriously and staying vigilant."