January 19, 2023
Albany, NY

Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress Combating COVID-19

Governor Encourages New Yorkers to Keep Using the Tools to Protect Against and Treat COVID-19: Vaccines, Boosters, Testing and Treatment

20 Statewide Deaths Reported on January 18

Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combatting COVID-19 and outlined basic steps they can take to protect against the spread of viral respiratory infections that become more common in the winter season.

"I urge all New Yorkers to remain vigilant and continue to use all available tools to keep themselves, their loved ones and their communities safe and healthy," Governor Hochul said. "Be sure to stay up to date on vaccine doses, and test before gatherings or travel. If you test positive, talk to your doctor about potential treatment options."

Governor Hochul is urging New Yorkers to take common prevention measures — like staying up to date on vaccines and practicing proper hygiene — to protect from Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), the flu and COVID-19 and reduce the patient burden on local hospitals. The Governor reiterated these basic steps when she updated New Yorkers on the state's winter health preparedness efforts last month.

Recently, the New York State Department of Health announced that the XBB.1.5. variant is now the most dominant strain in New York, accounting for more than 50 percent of COVID-19 infections statewide. Emerging at a time when both COVID-19 and flu cases remain high, early data indicates that XBB.1.5. is more transmissible than other circulating variants, though there is not yet clear evidence of significant changes to virulence or severity of disease.

The New York State Department of Health's weekly flu surveillance report for the week ending January 7, shows influenza remaining widespread throughout the state for a fourteenth consecutive week, with a total of 293,541 positive cases across all 62 counties reported to date. The report found that confirmed cases statewide dropped 36 percent, while overall hospitalizations were down 34 percent from the previous week, with the week ending January 7 at 1,621 hospitalizations across the state.

Additionally, there were 37 outbreaks in acute care and long-term care facilities, the report determined. There were no additional pediatric deaths, leaving the total at six statewide.

With flu season continuing and infections remaining widespread, Governor Hochulencourages all New Yorkers to get their annual flu vaccine. The flu virus and the virus that causes COVID-19 are both circulating, so getting vaccinated against both is the best way to stay healthy and to avoid added stress to the health care system.

The Health Department is continuing its annual public education campaign, reminding adults and parents to get both flu and COVID-19 shots for themselves and children 6 months and older. For information about flu vaccine clinics, contact the local health department or visit vaccines.gov/find-vaccines/.

Governor Hochul also continues to urge New Yorkers to get their bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters. Recently, the New York State Department of Health announced new guidance for bivalent COVID-19 booster doses, which are now available for eligible children down to 6 months of age.

The updated boosters are the first to be targeted to the original virus strain and recently circulating variants and are recommended for young New Yorkers and all those eligible. To schedule an appointment for a booster, New Yorkers should contact their local pharmacy, county health department, or healthcare provider; visit vaccines.gov; text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations.

Today's data is summarized briefly below:

  • Cases Per 100k - 24.98
  • 7-Day Average Cases Per 100k - 18.34
  • Test Results Reported - 61,289
  • Total Positive - 4,881
  • Percent Positive - 7.61%**
  • 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 7.02%**
  • Patient Hospitalization - 3,369 (-142)
  • Patients Newly Admitted - 467
  • Patients in ICU - 379 (-8)
  • Patients in ICU with Intubation - 135 (-6)
  • Total Discharges - 390,869 (+518)
  • New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 20
  • Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 61,000

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and several other factors, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data -- not percent positivity.

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.

Important Note: Effective Monday, April 4, the federal Department of Health and Human Services is no longer requiring testing facilities that use COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to report negative results. As a result, New York State's percent positive metric will be computed using only lab-reported PCR results. Positive antigen tests will still be reported to New York State and reporting of new daily cases and cases per 100k will continue to include both PCR and antigen tests. Due to this change and other factors, including changes in testing practices, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data -- not percent positivity.

  • Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC - 77,552

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.

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

Region

Monday, January 16, 2023

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Capital Region

14.12

13.18

13.50

Central New York

14.26

14.00

13.71

Finger Lakes

11.47

10.97

10.46

Long Island

20.39

19.50

18.75

Mid-Hudson

23.29

22.44

23.34

Mohawk Valley

17.01

16.87

17.31

New York City

21.79

20.89

20.87

North Country

12.62

12.27

12.34

Southern Tier

11.35

11.69

12.41

Western New York

11.69

12.18

11.89

Statewide

19.04

18.36

18.34

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

Region

Monday, January 16, 2023

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Capital Region

7.35%

7.15%

7.36%

Central New York

6.91%

7.12%

7.25%

Finger Lakes

6.24%

6.35%

6.38%

Long Island

6.29%

6.17%

6.00%

Mid-Hudson

6.62%

6.96%

7.76%

Mohawk Valley

8.39%

8.75%

9.09%

New York City

6.48%

6.54%

6.77%

North Country

6.32%

6.27%

6.06%

Southern Tier

6.29%

6.53%

6.65%

Western New York

11.10%

11.73%

11.71%

Statewide

6.68%

6.79%

7.02%

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and several other factors, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data -- not percent positivity.

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 NYC

Monday, January 16, 2023

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Bronx

7.94%

8.19%

7.88%

Kings

5.20%

5.19%

5.93%

New York

5.89%

6.18%

6.21%

Queens

8.06%

8.01%

7.81%

Richmond

6.96%

6.83%

6.82%

** Due to the test reporting policy change by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and several other factors, the most reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community is the case per 100,000 data -- not percent positivity.

Yesterday, 4,881 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 6,524,402. A geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

77,740

49

Allegany

10,693

8

Broome

57,950

37

Cattaraugus

19,053

4

Cayuga

20,138

12

Chautauqua

29,052

17

Chemung

26,369

10

Chenango

11,689

5

Clinton

22,206

14

Columbia

13,585

6

Cortland

13,139

6

Delaware

10,034

10

Dutchess

83,689

111

Erie

265,474

124

Essex

7,548

5

Franklin

11,935

5

Fulton

16,408

22

Genesee

16,409

5

Greene

10,809

10

Hamilton

1,088

-

Herkimer

17,235

20

Jefferson

26,639

26

Lewis

7,251

3

Livingston

14,220

4

Madison

16,588

8

Monroe

189,498

101

Montgomery

14,870

8

Nassau

543,251

314

Niagara

58,821

32

NYC

3,046,949

2,466

Oneida

68,223

49

Onondaga

140,824

82

Ontario

25,835

14

Orange

137,966

122

Orleans

10,400

11

Oswego

34,126

26

Otsego

13,117

10

Putnam

31,199

30

Rensselaer

41,214

37

Rockland

117,566

125

Saratoga

60,732

31

Schenectady

43,062

42

Schoharie

6,515

2

Schuyler

4,295

-

Seneca

7,568

3

St. Lawrence

25,983

20

Steuben

25,087

14

Suffolk

562,258

337

Sullivan

24,263

33

Tioga

13,897

8

Tompkins

26,192

14

Ulster

42,576

52

Warren

18,673

13

Washington

15,546

11

Wayne

21,639

8

Westchester

331,072

342

Wyoming

9,839

1

Yates

4,405

2

Below is data that shows how many hospitalized individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 were admitted for COVID-19/COVID-19 complications and how many were admitted for non-COVID-19 conditions:

Region

COVID-19 Patients currently hospitalized

Admitted due to COVID or complications of COVID

% Admitted due to COVID or complications of COVID

Admitted where COVID was not included as one of the reasons for admission

% Admitted where COVID was not included as one of the reasons for admission

Capital Region

170

103

60.60%

67

39.40%

Central New York

116

54

46.60%

62

53.40%

Finger Lakes

312

90

28.80%

222

71.20%

Long Island

610

270

44.30%

340

55.70%

Mid-Hudson

411

165

40.10%

246

59.90%

Mohawk Valley

52

28

53.80%

24

46.20%

New York City

1,429

588

41.10%

841

58.90%

North Country

50

35

70.00%

15

30.00%

Southern Tier

61

20

32.80%

41

67.20%

Western New York

158

54

34.20%

104

65.80%

Statewide

3,369

1,407

41.80%

1,962

58.20%

The Omicron variant now represents more than 95% of the viruses in circulation. For more information on variant tracking, please visit here: COVID-19 Variant Data | Department of Health (ny.gov).

Yesterday, there were 20 total new deaths reported due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 61,000. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

County

New Deaths

Bronx

2

Erie

1

Kings

3

Nassau

1

New York

2

Orange

1

Queens

4

Rockland

1

Suffolk

2

Westchester

3

Grand Total

20

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, 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.

Contact the Governor’s Press Office

Contact us by phone:

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

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