Governor Cuomo Announces British Airways and Delta Airlines Agree to Test All Passengers Before Entering New York State

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that in the wake of a new, highly contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus found in the United Kingdom, British Airways and Delta Airlines have voluntarily agreed to require a COVID-19 test before allowing passengers to board planes traveling from the United Kingdom to New York. With this move, New York joins the list of 120 countries with a similar requirement on flights from the U.K. The Governor has asked Virgin Atlantic, the other airline that runs flights from the U.K. to New York, to do the same. The Governor is also continuing to call on the federal government to impose enhanced travel restrictions, as 120 other countries have done, to avoid the same grave mistakes of the spring where the virus entered New York from Europe with no warning.

"When you do not require flights from the U.K to be tested, you are allowing thousands of U.K. passengers to arrive here every day and based on New York's experience in the spring, I believe this new, highly contagious strain of COVID-19 is already here," Governor Cuomo said. "This is another disaster waiting to happen and all efforts must be placed into averting another crisis. Now, it's on the federal government to do its job, correct the wrongs of the past and take swift action to impose enhanced travel restrictions just as 120 other countries have done."

Today's data is summarized briefly below:

• Test Results Reported - 156,510
• Tested Positive - 9,007
• Percent Positive - 5.75%
• Patient Hospitalization - 6,331 (+146)
• Patients Newly Admitted - 700
• Hospital Counties - 55
• Number ICU - 1,095 (+50)
• Number ICU with Intubation - 613 (+13)
• Total Discharges - 95,779 (+472)
• Deaths - 109
• Total Deaths - 28,709

The regional hospital bed capacity and occupancy numbers, including the number of hospitalizations as a percent of the region's population, is as follows:

The regional ICU bed capacity and occupancy numbers are as follows:

Yesterday, 156,510 test results were reported to New York State, and 5.75 percent were positive. Each region's 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

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

Of the 857,049 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

Yesterday, 109 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 28,709. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence: