NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate has fallen below 0.50% in every New York City borough for the first time since the pandemic began, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.
All five boroughs are now below 0.50% after Staten Island's seven-day average fell from 0.52% to 0.49% and the Bronx's declined from 0.51% to 0.45%.
The seven-day positivity in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens have been below 0.40% for at least the past three weeks. The most recent data shows the rates were 0.33% in Brooklyn, 0.31% in Manhattan and 0.34% in Queens.
NY Governor
Overall, the city has a seven-day positivity rate of 0.36%. It's a marked decline from early January, when the city's seven-day positivity rate was 6.38% on Jan. 5, during the so-called "post-holiday surge."
The seven-day average in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island was even higher than the city's average on Jan. 5, at 7.82%, 7.28% and 7.85%, respectively.
The new lows come as the state's seven-day positivity fell to 0.39% Thursday, compared to 7.94% on Jan. 5.
Cuomo said the state's seven-day average has declined for 73 consecutive days.
The state reported another 418 COVID-19 cases and five deaths on Thursday. Cuomo said the daily death toll was the lowest since Sept. 28 of last year.
Statewide hospitalizations fell by 48 patients to 580. There were 149 patients in intensive care, nine fewer than the day before, Cuomo said.
On the vaccine front, 70.4% of New York adults had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to CDC data. The share of New York adults who've completed their vaccine series is 62.3%.
In all, 20,372,195 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, including 76,160 over the past 24 hours and 551,410 over the past seven days.
NY Governor
Earlier this week, Cuomo announced New York was lifting most remaining COVID-19 restrictions "effective immediately" after the state reached 70% of adults vaccinated.
"While we have come so far in our fight against COVID and have been able to lift nearly all restrictions and get back to normal, our work is not yet over," the governor cautioned in a statement Thursday. "New Yorkers have worked hard to contain the spread of COVID throughout their communities, but we all need to work together to get across the finish line. We need every single New Yorker to get vaccinated, so if you haven't already, take advantage of the state's ongoing incentive programs and get your vaccination."
