'Extraordinary progress': NY's COVID-19 rate below 10% again, hospitalizations drop by hundreds

COVID
A person visits a Covid-19 testing site along a Manhattan street on January 21, 2022 in New York City. Photo credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York marked another day below a COVID infection rate of 10%, as hospitalizations and ICU patients also decreased across the state.

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New York reported a 9.23% positivity rate in Saturday’s report, the first time in just over a month that the rate was under 10% on two consecutive days.

“This is extraordinary progress," Gov. Kathy Hochul said. "As we continue to see numbers trend downward, let's also continue to do the right thing. Wash your hands, get the vaccine if you haven't already, get the booster dose, and wear a mask."

Hospitalizations statewide dropped by over 500 to 10,477, down about 2,000 from the omicron peak. ICU patients also dropped by nearly 50 to 1,504.

The amount of virus-related deaths remained somewhat high, at 179.

There were 27,643 total cases reported Saturday on just under 300,000 reported tests. Just a week ago, the case load was about double, with the omicron high just above 90,000.

The state has paid a close eye to the metric of cases per 100,000 people. New York City’s number, which was once above 450, hit 176 Saturday, second-highest in the state behind Central New York.

Among NYC’s five boroughs, Manhattan had the lowest positivity rate (8.34%) while Queens had the highest (11.32%). Just over half of the newly reported deaths were in New York City, including 29 in Queens.

In Connecticut, the latest numbers showed a 13.7% positivity rate Friday.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images