NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York state dropped to their lowest number since March 18 on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.
A total of 765 people in the state were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday, down by 48 from Wednesday, Cuomo said in a press release on Friday. Of the 765 hospitalized patients, 179 were in intensive care units, and 98 were on ventilators.
Ten New York state residents died of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the state's death toll to 25,024, he said. The state conducted 78,239 tests on Thursday, 776 of which — or 0.99 percent — came back positive, he added. A total of 405,551 people in the state have now tested positive for the virus.
"Too many leaders throughout the country are still playing politics with this virus," Cuomo said in a statement. "We need to keep being smart — and smart means enforcement of the health orders we've put in place that will keep us healthy and prevent us from going back to the hell we went through."
On Thursday, Cuomo said his team would decide whether or not New York City will enter Phase 4 this coming Monday, July 20 by 4 p.m. on Friday.
He also announced new rules for bars and restaurants in New York City, including a "three strikes and you're closed" policy that will shutter establishments that repeatedly fail to comply with the state's COVID-19 regulations.
New York state's breakdown of COVID-19 positivity rates by region for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is as follows:
