GOVERNOR: MONDAY UPDATE ON COVID: 65% OF NEW NEW YORK COVID CASES ARE OMICRON COVID VARIENT RELATED

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Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers Monday on the state’s progress combating COVID-19.     

“As we come home from holiday gatherings, it is as important as ever to take precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19 this season,” Governor Hochul said. “Wear your mask, wash your hands, and if you haven’t yet, get vaccinated and boosted. The vaccine is the best tool we have to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe as we head into the new year. Take advantage of having it readily available and get yours today.”

Data this morning in the GISAID database, the largest repository of SARS-CoV-2 sequences in the world, show the Omicron variant comprised 64.1% of uploaded sequences from NYS between 12/12/21 and 12/25/21. This increase compared to the result announced on Friday, which covered 12/10/2021 to 12/23/2021, and slightly higher than all previous levels, is indicative of the ongoing spread of Omicron in NYS.   


Today’s data is summarized briefly below:   

* Numbers with an asterisk were last updated as of Dec. 24 as the HERDS system was down in observance of the holiday. 

** Vaccination numbers compiled by the CDC as of Dec. 24.

*** Due to the Holiday, today’s report has data from Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, where available.

  • Test Results Reported – Dec. 24: 400,030/Dec. 25: 257,325***
  • Total Positive – Dec. 24: 49,708/Dec. 25: 36,454***
  • Percent Positive – 14.17%
  • 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 11.70% 
  • Patient Hospitalization – 4,891*
  • Patients Newly Admitted – 839*
  • Patients in ICU – 880 (-4)*
  • Patients in ICU with Intubation – 501 (+6)*
  • Total Discharges – 226,474 (+676)*
  • New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 60*
  • Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 47,929*
    The Health Electronic Response Data System is a NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities only.   
  • Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC – 60,751
    This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings.   
  • Total vaccine doses administered – 33,105,549
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 29,046
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 732,953 
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose – 88.6%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 80.3%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 95.0%**
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 82.6%**
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose – 77.4% 
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 69.4% 
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 82.9%**
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 71.3**

Each region’s 7-day average of cases per 100K population is as follows:  

REGIONDec. 23Dec. 24Dec. 25
Capital Region73.1373.8872.5
Central New York76.3875.3673.28
Finger Lakes59.2857.4254.51
Long Island173.85201.92216.1
Mid-Hudson116.99134.3140.16
Mohawk Valley75.870.4764.44
New York City204.25237.31256.7
North Country51.0150.2346.44
Southern Tier91.2686.1870.34
Western New York59.6565.4168.37
Statewide147.83168.15178.37

Each region’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:     

RegionThursday, December 23, 2021Friday, December 24, 2021Saturday, December 25, 2021
Capital Region8.61%9.03%9.23%
Central New York8.77%8.69%9.05%
Finger Lakes8.38%8.52%8.85%
Long Island13.05%13.98%14.79%
Mid-Hudson9.43%10.35%11.04%
Mohawk Valley8.79%9.21%9.40%
New York City10.20%11.00%11.76%
North Country6.96%7.08%7.07%
Southern Tier7.34%7.91%7.89%
Western New York8.88%9.31%9.69%
Statewide10.18%10.98%11.70%

Each New York City borough’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:     

Borough in NYCThursday, December 23, 2021Friday, December 24, 2021Saturday, December 25, 2021
Bronx10.73%12.37%13.78%
Kings10.15%10.86%11.47%
New York9.70%9.99%10.50%
Queens10.69%11.78%12.70%
Richmond10.24%11.46%12.34%

Yesterday, 36,454 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total compiled to 3,184,195. A geographic breakdown is as follows:  

CountyTotal PositiveNew Positive
Albany39,158206
Allegany6,8617
Broome32,356134
Cattaraugus11,2896
Cayuga11,03518
Chautauqua17,23532
Chemung14,60936
Chenango6,53318
Clinton9,51948
Columbia6,67722
Cortland6,99940
Delaware5,3228
Dutchess42,998246
Erie141,578750
Essex3,5279
Franklin6,27319
Fulton8,85316
Genesee9,90314
Greene5,83120
Hamilton5840
Herkimer9,77924
Jefferson12,88421
Lewis4,6850
Livingston8,28413
Madison8,70210
Monroe109,437320
Montgomery8,1415
Nassau268,4223,438
Niagara33,017128
NYC1,372,10523,804
Oneida37,74244
Onondaga67,800307
Ontario13,61918
Orange70,609347
Orleans6,3227
Oswego16,56519
Otsego6,43813
Putnam15,09317
Rensselaer20,24799
Rockland61,500386
Saratoga29,297152
Schenectady21,58922
Schoharie3,3024
Schuyler2,34713
Seneca3,8124
St. Lawrence14,84820
Steuben14,34317
Suffolk298,4303,353
Sullivan11,35282
Tioga7,39813
Tompkins10,99770
Ulster21,49493
Warren8,72640
Washington8,01916
Wayne11,98011
Westchester169,3251,869
Wyoming6,0884
Yates2,3172
Grand Total3,184,19536,454

Given the extent of spread of Omicron, it is more meaningful to report the percentage of Omicron variants as reported to the public COVID-19 sequence databases, than to report counts of individual cases. This percentage can then be related to the total positive COVID case count in the state. This process is consistent with how the New York State Department of Health has reported on all other variants online: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-variant-data.

It should be noted that similar data reported from the CDC, updated this week, uses a statistical model to project the variant percentages for a more recent timeframe. This projection approach partly explains a higher percentage for the Omicron variant reported by the CDC.

As of Dec. 24, 60 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19, bringing the total compiled by HERDS to 47,929. Death numbers were not compiled on Dec. 25 in observance of the holiday. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:     

Deaths by County of Residence
CountyNew Deaths
Albany1
Bronx1
Broome2
Cattaraugus2
Chautauqua2
Chemung1
Erie5
Genesee1
Herkimer1
Kings3
Livingston2
Manhattan2
Monroe2
Nassau3
Niagara1
Oneida4
Onondaga2
Orange1
Putnam1
Queens8
Richmond2
Rockland2
Saratoga1
Schenectady1
Seneca1
Suffolk3
Ulster1
Washington1
Wayne1
Westchester2
Grand Total60

All New York State mass vaccination sites are open to eligible New Yorkers aged 5 and older, with walk-in vaccination available at all sites on a first-come, first-serve basis for people aged 12 and older. Information on which sites require appointments for children in the 5-11 age group is available on our website. People who prefer to make an  appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site can do so on the Am I Eligible App or by calling 1-833-NYS-4-VAX. People may also contact their local health department, pharmacy, doctor or hospital to schedule appointments where vaccines are available, or visit vaccines.gov to find information on vaccine appointments near them.  

New Yorkers looking to schedule vaccine appointments for 5-11-year-old children are encouraged to contact their child’s pediatrician, family physician, county health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health centers, or pharmacies that may be administering the vaccine for this age group. Parents and guardians can visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations. Make sure that the provider offers the Pfizer-BioNTechCOVID-19 vaccine, as the other COVID-19 vaccines are not yet authorized for this age group.  

Visit our website for parents and guardians for new information, frequently asked questions and answers, and resources specifically designed for parents and guardians of this age group.   

Yesterday, 6,163 New Yorkers received their first vaccine dose, and 3,407 completed their vaccine series. A geographic breakdown of New Yorkers who have been vaccinated by region is as follows:   

 

People with at least one vaccine dose
People with complete vaccine series  
RegionCumulative
Total
Increase over past 24 hoursCumulative
Total
Increase over past 24 hours  
Capital Region934,48071852,48298  
Central New York626,785-6579,12068  
Finger Lakes833,85816769,40535  
Long Island2,072,264-1,0161,835,767-4  
Mid-Hudson1,621,838-3871,418,54492  
Mohawk Valley315,4170291,68444  
New York City7,558,2137,4566,649,5562,950  
North Country293,1163264,1196  
Southern Tier424,519-42388,2007  
Western New York919,18868839,426111  
Statewide15,599,6786,16313,888,3033,407  
       

The COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker Dashboard is available to update New Yorkers on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The New York State Department of Health requires vaccinating facilities to report all COVID-19 vaccine administration data within 24 hours; the vaccine administration data on the dashboard is updated daily to reflect the most up-to-date metrics in the state’s vaccination effort. New York State Department of Health-reported data from NYSIIS and CIR differs slightly from federally-reported data, which is inclusive of federally-administered doses and other minor differences. Both numbers are included in the release above.   

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