New York COVID-19 Surge Continues to Break Records Fourth Day In A Row
New York State is setting all the wrong records this week. The COVID-19 surge across the state is the worst to date, since the beginning of the pandemic. The previous record high, 19,942 positive cases of COVID-19, was announced by former Governor Andrew Cuomo on January 15, 2021, for the previous day (January 14).
According to Governor Kathy Hochul's report released on December 20 with data for December 19, we have broken that record for the fourth straight day. A total of 23,391 positive cases were reported for Dec. 19, an increase of 3,449 from the record high set in Jan. Over the past four days, these are the record-breaking totals:
12/19/21 - 23,391
12/18/21 - 22,478
12/17/21 - 21,908
12/16/21 - 21,027
On Jan. 14 there were 324,671 total test results reported (6.14% positive). For Dec. 19 there were 258,612 total test results reported (9.04% positive). While the number of positive cases is at an all-time high if you compare the two days, hospitalizations, intubations, and deaths are down:
January 14, 2021
Patient Hospitalization - 8,808 (-15)
Patients Newly Admitted - 1,153
Number ICU - 1,570 (+34)
Number ICU with Intubation - 962 (+6)
Deaths - 183
December 19, 2021
Patient Hospitalization - 4,020 (+140)
Patients Newly Admitted - 513
Patients in ICU - 769 (+8)
Patients in ICU with Intubation - 451 (+3)
New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 60
The COVID-19 7-day average positivity rates have also surged around the state:
| Region | Sunday, December 19, 2021 |
| Capital Region | 7.05% |
| Central New York | 8.26% |
| Finger Lakes | 8.18% |
| Long Island | 9.84% |
| Mid-Hudson | 6.42% |
| Mohawk Valley | 8.62% |
| New York City | 6.82% |
| North Country | 7.48% |
| Southern Tier | 7.27% |
| Western New York | 9.06% |
| Statewide | 7.40% |
Compared to a month ago, New York City, Long Island, and the Mid-Hudson regions have seen a tremendous increase in positivity:
| Region | Friday, November 19, 2021 |
| Capital Region | 6.84% |
| Central New York | 6.45% |
| Finger Lakes | 8.59% |
| Long Island | 3.98% |
| Mid-Hudson | 2.80% |
| Mohawk Valley | 7.29% |
| New York City | 1.57% |
| North Country | 7.13% |
| Southern Tier | 5.23% |
| Western New York | 9.48% |
| Statewide | 3.73% |
Meanwhile, data shows that the Omicron Variant is increasing, although the Delta Variant is still dominant in New York, according to the most recent data released by the New York Health Department. The data is from the end of November and the beginning of December though, so I would bet that the percentage is much higher now.
The Omicron variant was first confirmed in New York State on December 2, 2021. For samples of SARS-CoV-2 collected between November 21 and December 4, 2021 from New York that are sequenced and entered into GISAID, 1.1% were the Omicron variant.
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