NEW YORK (WBEN) – New York state reported another 13,786 coronavirus cases Saturday as Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned that vaccine supply limitations and continued spread of the virus was "cause for concern."
The 13,786 new cases were out of 262,106 tests on Friday. The statewide positivity rate is 5.26%.
Hospitalizations declined by 44 to 8,802. There were 1,069 newly admitted patients and 948 discharges.
The number of patients in intensive care rose by 16 to 1,562, while the number of intubated patients increased by 31 to 1,023.
The state reported another 144 deaths. The death toll is now at 33,907 people.
COVID-19 cases for Jan. 22: 541 new cases were confirmed by @ECDOH out of 11,498 diagnostic reports received for a daily positivity rate of 4.7%. The 7-day positivity rate average is 5.1%. Total cases through Jan. 22 are now 53,541. pic.twitter.com/QscLAigR7z
— Erie County Department of Health 😷 (@ECDOH) January 23, 2021
On Friday, Cuomo said hospitalizations had declined markedly this past week—a decline of 400 patients from Wednesday to Friday—and that the rate of increase in hospitalizations was also slowing after a surge following the holidays.
But he warned that the state's vaccine supply was extremely limited, with about 250,000 doses delivered each week from the federal government and some 7 million New Yorkers eligible to receive the vaccine.
"The COVID-19 vaccine is here and we're distributing it as fast as possible, but supply limitations and the continued spread of the virus should give New Yorkers cause for concern," Cuomo said in a statement Saturday. "We have the network in place to distribute the vaccine, but not enough of the vaccines themselves."
New York Governor
Cuomo said the state has administered 92% of first doses it has received from the federal government; the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses.
To date, New York's health care distribution sites have received 1,178,850 first doses and administered 1,084,814, or 92%, of first-dose vaccinations.
Week 6 allocations from the federal government—250,400 first doses—are continuing to arrive at vaccination providers across the state this weekend after the Week 1–5 supply was "exhausted on Friday," the governor said.
The state has also received 350,550 second doses and administered 135,334 of those.
