August 21, 2020
Albany, NY

Governor Cuomo Announces New Record-High Number of COVID-19 Tests Reported and Lowest Hospitalizations Since March 16

98,880 Test Results Reported to New York State Yesterday - Beating Previous High of 88,668

Infection Rate Stays Below 1 Percent for 14th Straight Day; 0.72 Percent of Yesterday's COVID-19 Tests were Positive

Hospitalizations Drop Below 500 for First Time; Lowest Number—490—Since March 16

Lowest Number of ICU Patients—119—Since March 15

3 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday; No Deaths Reported in New York City

Confirms 709 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State - Bringing Statewide Total to 428,512; New Cases in 43 Counties

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a new record-high number of COVID-19 test results—98,880—were reported to New York State yesterday. The governor also announced that hospitalizations dropped below 500 for the first time, to 490, the lowest number since March 16. The number of ICU patients dropped to 119, the lowest number since March 15. The rate of positive tests—0.72 percent—was below 1 percent for the 14th straight day. No deaths were reported in New York City yesterday. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.

"Part of the reason we were able to tame the beast in New York is because of our aggressive testing strategy. When the federal administration fell down, New York stepped up - and yesterday we raised the bar even higher with nearly 100,000 tests reported in a single day," Governor Cuomo said. "We've been reopening for 14 weeks and our infection rate has actually done down - the positive test rate has been below 1 percent the past 14 days and the number of hospitalizations dropped below 500 for the first time since March 16. This is proof positive that when you have the virus under control, more testing does not equal more positives. But my message to New Yorkers remains the same: this is not over, we have to be smart, wear a mask, socially distance and be New York Tough!"

Yesterday, the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force visited 1,618 establishments in New York City and Long Island and observed 11 establishments that were not in compliance with state requirements. A county breakdown of yesterday's observed violations is below:

  • Bronx - 2
  • Manhattan - 1
  • Queens - 7
  • Suffolk - 1

Today's data is summarized briefly below:

  • Patient Hospitalization - 490 (-28)
  • Patients Newly Admitted - 66
  • Hospital Counties - 28
  • Number ICU - 119 (-1)
  • Number ICU with Intubation - 58 (-4)
  • Total Discharges - 74,485 (+79)
  • Deaths - 3
  • Total Deaths - 25,278

Of the 98,880 test results reported to New York State yesterday, 709, or 0.72 percent, were positive. Each region's percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

REGION

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Capital Region

0.5%

0.6%

0.7%

Central New York

0.7%

0.3%

0.8%

Finger Lakes

0.6%

0.4%

0.3%

Long Island

0.9%

0.8%

0.7%

Mid-Hudson

0.7%

0.8%

0.9%

Mohawk Valley

0.4%

0.3%

0.8%

New York City

0.8%

0.8%

0.7%

North Country

0.1%

1.2%

0.2%

Southern Tier

0.6%

0.6%

0.5%

Western New York

1.4%

1.0%

1.6%

The Governor also confirmed 709 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 428,512 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 428,512 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

2,691

7

Allegany

84

3

Broome

1,211

15

Cattaraugus

174

0

Cayuga

164

0

Chautauqua

278

3

Chemung

193

0

Chenango

222

3

Clinton

136

1

Columbia

561

1

Cortland

98

0

Delaware

109

0

Dutchess

4,734

13

Erie

9,364

81

Essex

85

0

Franklin

56

0

Fulton

306

1

Genesee

290

0

Greene

304

3

Hamilton

12

0

Herkimer

289

5

Jefferson

144

1

Lewis

47

0

Livingston

178

0

Madison

431

7

Monroe

5,273

17

Montgomery

193

3

Nassau

44,162

50

Niagara

1,556

9

NYC

231,574

286

Oneida

2,233

11

Onondaga

3,743

24

Ontario

373

0

Orange

11,316

24

Orleans

303

0

Oswego

279

3

Otsego

124

1

Putnam

1,470

2

Rensselaer

810

1

Rockland

14,106

17

Saratoga

808

6

Schenectady

1,159

16

Schoharie

69

0

Schuyler

24

1

Seneca

95

0

St. Lawrence

265

1

Steuben

308

1

Suffolk

44,400

47

Sullivan

1,495

0

Tioga

203

0

Tompkins

244

4

Ulster

2,115

2

Warren

314

1

Washington

264

0

Wayne

272

2

Westchester

36,621

35

Wyoming

121

1

Yates

59

0

Yesterday, there were 3 deaths due to COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 25,278. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

Deaths by County of Residence

County

New Deaths

Clinton

1

Niagara

1

Rockland

1

Translations

বাংলা অনুবাদ
Tradiksyon kreyòl ayisyen
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Contact the Governor's Press Office

Contact us by phone:

Albany: (518) 474 - 8418
New York City: (212) 681 - 4640