NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state is preparing for a January surge of COVID cases that they “know is coming” after the holidays. But even before then, virus numbers are continuing to smash pandemic records.
New York reported 67,090 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, breaking the previous record set late last week by nearly 20,000. That’s also up over 26,000 from the numbers reported Tuesday.
“We're basically preparing for a January surge. We know it's coming. And we're naive to think it won’t,” said Hochul. “We do think there's going to be a spike in cases that's going to continue, not just in our positive rates but in our hospitalizations."
The state’s positivity rate hit 18.5% — with about 362,000 tests recorded, state officials said.
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Amid the ominous news, Hochul touted the high testing numbers as an “incredible” testament to the state’s resources.
Hospitalizations are also skyrocketing, with about 6,700 in the latest report, up nearly 600 in just a single day. Those numbers were below 2,000 as recently as mid-November.
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“Still less than we had this time last year,” said Hochul, who also underscored that the state was seeing an 8% increase in hospital bed capacity.
A total of 97 virus-related deaths were reported, a single-day number higher than has been seen in quite awhile, and up 20 from the previous day.
New York City saw over 39,000 of the positive cases in Wednesday’s report. The city by far has the most cases per 100,000 people, up to nearly 324 Wednesday after that number was at 286 Tuesday. Long Island has the second highest, at 264.6. The statewide figure is 222.2.
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The state reported nearly 140,000 vaccine doses of any kind administered over the past day. CDC numbers said 95% of New Yorkers have gotten at least a single vaccine dose.
Hochul announced $78 million in federal funds was being made available to the state to help communities respond to the pandemic.
The money comes via the Community Development Block Grant CARES Act, and applications are now being accepted.
So far, $40 million has been awarded for health and safety improvements, including recently to a senior center in Somers.
"Mayors, communities, and non-profits tell us your vision, tell us where you believe the vulnerabilities are greatest in your communities, wherever you think you need the extra help. These additional funds will help, and we will get through this together,” said Hochul.