NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday designated new COVID-19 clusters on Staten Island, in Washington Heights and on Long Island — and said the state would set up an emergency field hospital on Staten Island amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The number of Staten Island residents hospitalized with COVID-19 has "basically tripled" over the past three weeks, spiking from 33 to 91, Cuomo said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
"Staten Island has such an issue that it has triggered a hospital capacity issue, and the hospitals have contacted us, and they say they need emergency beds on Staten Island," he said.
To respond to their requests, the state will set up an emergency facility in South Beach, not far from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, he said.
Part of Staten Island will become an orange "warning" zone, and part will become a yellow "precautionary" zone, he said.
The state will also designate yellow zones in Washington Heights in Manhattan; Great Neck and Massapequa Park in Nassau County; Riverhead and Hampton Bays in Suffolk County, he said.
Detailed red, orange and yellow zone guidelines are available on the state's website. The new zones will take effect for businesses on Wednesday, Nov. 25 and for schools on Thursday, Nov. 26, Cuomo noted.
Of the 191,489 COVID-19 test results that came back in the state on Sunday, 5,906, or 3.08 percent, were positive, Cuomo said.
As of Sunday, 2,724 people in the state were hospitalized with COVID-19. The state has recorded 1,497 new COVID-19 hospitalizations in the last three weeks — a 122 percent increase, he noted.
If hospitalizations continue to climb at the current rate, 6,047 New York state residents will be hospitalized with COVID-19 three weeks from now, Cuomo warned. The state has not reported more than 6,000 hospitalizations since May 15, when 6,220 people were hospitalized, health department data shows.
New York also reported 33 new COVID-19-related fatalities on Monday. At his news briefing, Cuomo urged New Yorkers to take precautions as Thanksgiving approaches.
"This Thanksgiving isn't normal. Nothing in 2020 has been," he said. "This year, let's show thanks by keeping each other safe."
One of the governor's daughters won't be coming home for Thanksgiving, he noted, as she is currently out of state.
"It's hard," he said. "But I can't think of a better gesture of love than to say, I'm making the tough choice to keep you and our family safe."
