NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York's coronavirus numbers "remain low and steady," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday as he reported 703 new cases and five more deaths in the state.
Cuomo said 703 of the 74,857 COVID-19 tests statewide on Friday came back positive—a positivity rate of 0.93 percent. In New York City, 1.1 percent of those tested were positive on Friday.
The new cases bring New York state's total to 420,345 cases, with 227,584 of the total cases in New York City. The five boroughs saw 326 new cases on Friday.
There were five more deaths across the state, including one in the Bronx, one in Brooklyn, one in Manhattan and one in Queens. The state's death toll is 25,195.
On Friday, 573 patients were hospitalized, 133 were in intensive care and 64 were intubated.
Cuomo said hospitalizations, intubations and ICU numbers all "remain low and steady."
"Despite increasing infection rates across the country and in our region, we continue to see our numbers hold at low levels, all thanks to the hard work of New Yorkers to change their behavior and our data-driven, phased reopening," Cuomo said in a statement. "While our numbers remain low and steady, this is not the time to get complacent -- we must focus on protecting our hard-won progress now. Remember, wear your mask, socially distance and above all, stay New York Tough."
On Friday, Cuomo gave schools in New York state the go-ahead to reopen for in-person learning this fall.
"By our infection rates, all school districts can open everywhere in the state," Cuomo told reporters during a conference call. "Every region is below the threshold that we established... you look at our infection rate we are probably in the best situation in the country right now as incredible as that is so if anybody can open schools, we can open schools."
The governor said officials will continue to watch the infection rate and the decision can be revisited if there's a spike in cases between now and the day that schools are scheduled to open.
