NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York state and New Jersey reported a combined total of nearly 10,000 more coronavirus cases on Saturday as New York's positivity rate neared 4%.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there were 6,063 new cases statewide— 3.98% of the 152,355 tests conducted Friday. That's up from a positivity rate of 3.72% the day before.
The positivity rate in "focus zones" seeing an uptick in cases was 5.65%, while the statewide positivity rate without the focus zones was 3.45%.
There were 2,101 new cases in New York City, which had a seven-day positivity rate of 2.61%, according to state data, which differs from the city's data.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday that there were 1,589 new cases in the five boroughs and that the seven-day positivity rate was 3.64%.
Total hospitalizations in New York also rose by 184 to 3,287, including 433 newly admitted patients. The number of patients in intensive car rose by 18 to 654, while the number of patients intubated increased by 37 to 331.
New York also reported 42 more virus-related deaths, bringing the state's death toll to 26,632.
"We are entering a challenging period of sustained COVID-19 spread across this state," Cuomo said in a statement Saturday. "It's up to you, your neighborhood and your community to slow the spread."
Cuomo has been warning for weeks that the officials were anticipating a surge in cases after the Thanksgiving holiday and into the new year as more people get together to celebrate the holiday seasons.
"New York has one of the nation's lowest infection rates and the nation's highest testing capacity, but it will take the vigilance of New Yorkers to get us through the holidays and through this pandemic," the governor said.
In New Jersey, 3,924 more cases were reported, according to Gov. Phil Murphy.
The largest share of new cases, 216, were reported in Middlesex County. There were 206 new cases in Bergen County and 200 in Hudson County.
Hospitalizations in New Jersey were at 2,830. There were 560 patients in intensive care and 305 on ventilators.
New Jersey also reported 24 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 15,136 people, not including 1,829 probable deaths.
