NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- After a week without breaking a new one-day COVID-19 case record, Saturday brought the latest staggering number of virus positives across New York.
New York officials reported 90,132 new COVID-19 cases in Saturday’s report, a little less than 5,000 more than the previous one-day record, set on New Year's Day.
The state’s record-breaking days were paused for a week, possibly in part due to holiday testing availability — but cases have now been above 75,000 for four consecutive days.
Before December, New York had never eclipsed 20,000 reported cases — but now the state has seen more than 20,000 everyday since Dec. 16, along with several new records.
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Hospitalizations crept toward 12,000 Saturday, now at 11,843, up almost 300 from the day before.
Just one week ago, hospitalizations were in the mid-8,000s.
A state report released Friday showed that child hospitalizations are the fastest rising in New York, with a majority being unvaccinated. During the last week of 2021, hospital admissions for kids 0-4 were up nearly 800% (who aren’t eligible to get vaccinated) and up over 1,000% for those 12-18.
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"Our vaccination rate among children is still too low," said Hochul on Saturday. "Parents and guardians don't delay in getting your children vaccinated and boosted, if eligible. It's safe and widely available. This is the one of the best ways to keep our numbers down, as well as wearing a mask and staying home if sick."
The report also said 91% of hospitalized kids ages 5-11 were unvaccinated.
The state reported 154 new virus deaths Saturday, just one fewer than the single-day record over the past year, which was set yesterday.
New York City accounted for over 47,000 of the new virus cases reported Saturday, equating for about 53% of the overall number.
New York City still leads the state in cases per 100,000 people at 473, but that number has leveled off over the past three days, down three from the day before. Long Island has also dropped by that same metric -- down to 406 from 423 on Thursday.
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