February 15, 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

19 Statewide Deaths Reported on February 14

Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating 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 Hochu lsaid. "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 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.

The New York State Department of Health's weekly flu surveillance report for the week ending February 4, shows influenza remaining widespread throughout the state for an eighteenth consecutive week, with a total of 310,653 positive cases across 57 counties reported to date. The report found that confirmed cases statewide dropped 19 percent to 2,374 for the week, while overall hospitalizations were down 48 percent from the previous week, at 196 hospitalizations across the state.

Additionally, there were 6 outbreaks in acute care and long-term care facilities, the report determined. There were no one influenza-associated pediatric death reported for the week, the total remaining at nine statewide.

With flu season continuing, Governor Hochul reminds all New Yorkers that it's not too late 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. In December, 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 - 13.44
  • 7-Day Average Cases Per 100k - 11.43
  • Test Results Reported - 62,335
  • Total Positive - 2,626
  • Percent Positive - 3.88%**
  • 7-Day Average Percent Positive - 4.45%**
  • Patient Hospitalization - 2,198 (+23)
  • Patients Newly Admitted - 388
  • Patients in ICU - 236 (+23)
  • Patients in ICU with Intubation - 92 (+7)
  • Total Discharges - 400,315 (+325)
  • New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 19
  • Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 61,641

** 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 - 79,171

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

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Monday, February 13, 2023

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Capital Region

13.01

14.17

14.67

Central New York

14.72

14.76

14.50

Finger Lakes

12.39

12.02

11.86

Long Island

9.73

9.64

9.27

Mid-Hudson

12.05

11.89

11.49

Mohawk Valley

13.57

12.98

12.19

New York City

10.46

10.53

10.75

North Country

15.82

15.48

15.00

Southern Tier

12.41

12.59

12.73

Western New York

13.57

13.74

13.28

Statewide

11.45

11.48

11.4

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

Region

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Monday, February 13, 2023

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Capital Region

7.09%

7.70%

7.90%

Central New York

7.29%

7.30%

7.27%

Finger Lakes

6.52%

6.46%

6.52%

Long Island

3.40%

3.36%

3.19%

Mid-Hudson

3.96%

4.06%

3.49%

Mohawk Valley

7.21%

6.95%

6.95%

New York City

3.61%

3.72%

3.56%

North Country

8.00%

7.77%

7.62%

Southern Tier

5.74%

6.57%

6.85%

Western New York

11.74%

11.87%

11.58%

Statewide

4.57%

4.70%

4.45%

** 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

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Monday, February 13, 2023

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Bronx

3.80%

3.71%

3.60%

Kings

3.14%

3.56%

3.21%

New York

3.74%

3.72%

3.80%

Queens

3.94%

3.86%

3.78%

Richmond

4.17%

4.16%

3.96%

** 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, 2,626 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 6,597,324. A geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

78,818

49

Allegany

10,782

9

Broome

58,694

31

Cattaraugus

19,272

11

Cayuga

20,472

6

Chautauqua

29,430

19

Chemung

26,611

16

Chenango

11,819

9

Clinton

22,589

15

Columbia

13,918

13

Cortland

13,362

12

Delaware

10,178

7

Dutchess

84,907

42

Erie

269,077

130

Essex

7,675

2

Franklin

12,080

7

Fulton

16,603

15

Genesee

16,575

9

Greene

11,027

10

Hamilton

1,098

-

Herkimer

17,491

8

Jefferson

27,207

17

Lewis

7,345

5

Livingston

14,382

8

Madison

16,823

9

Monroe

192,027

95

Montgomery

15,054

5

Nassau

548,312

132

Niagara

59,626

23

NYC

3,078,405

1,137

Oneida

69,158

34

Onondaga

142,655

73

Ontario

26,181

18

Orange

139,943

55

Orleans

10,577

7

Oswego

34,671

20

Otsego

13,328

5

Putnam

31,633

15

Rensselaer

41,798

21

Rockland

118,769

31

Saratoga

61,541

44

Schenectady

43,704

23

Schoharie

6,588

3

Schuyler

4,324

-

Seneca

7,671

6

St. Lawrence

26,268

25

Steuben

25,269

13

Suffolk

567,133

142

Sullivan

24,656

13

Tioga

14,045

11

Tompkins

26,563

15

Ulster

43,220

29

Warren

18,932

22

Washington

15,809

14

Wayne

21,883

9

Westchester

334,977

124

Wyoming

9,924

-

Yates

4,445

3

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

144

80

55.6%

64

44.4%

Central New York

118

62

52.5%

56

47.5%

Finger Lakes

217

68

31.3%

149

68.7%

Long Island

314

148

47.1%

166

52.9%

Mid-Hudson

240

81

33.8%

159

66.3%

Mohawk Valley

50

27

54.0%

23

46.0%

New York City

859

348

40.5%

511

59.5%

North Country

53

29

54.7%

24

45.3%

Southern Tier

42

10

23.8%

32

76.2%

Western New York

161

84

52.2%

77

47.8%

Statewide

2,198

937

42.6%

1,261

57.4%

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 19 total new deaths reported due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 61,641. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

County

New Deaths

Bronx

3

Erie

1

Kings

3

Nassau

2

New York

4

Orange

1

Suffolk

2

Westchester

3

Grand Total

19

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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