February 17, 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 16

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 this winter," Governor Hochul said. "Stay up to date on vaccine doses and be sure to 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 health preparedness efforts this winter.

The New York State Department of Health's weekly flu surveillance report for the week ending February 11 shows influenza remaining geographically widespread throughout the state for a nineteenth consecutive week, with a total of 313,261 positive cases across 57 counties reported to date. The report found that confirmed cases statewide increased 10 percent to 2,612 for the week, while overall hospitalizations were down 36 percent from the previous week, at 134 hospitalizations across the state.

Additionally, there were two outbreaks in acute care and long-term care facilities, the report determined. There was one influenza-associated pediatric death reported for the week, for a total of 10 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 – 10.97
  • 7-Day Average Cases Per 100k – 10.61
  • Test Results Reported – 47,151
  • Total Positive – 2,144
  • Percent Positive - 4.24%**
  • 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 4.28%**
  • Patient Hospitalization - 2,107 (-72)
  • Patients Newly Admitted - 304
  • Patients in ICU – 232 (+10)
  • Patients in ICU with Intubation - 95 (+4)
  • Total Discharges - 401,009 (+353)
  • New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 19
  • Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS - 61,674

** 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 - 78,401

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 – 43,780,996
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 5,337
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 33,568
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 85.5%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 90.7%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older who are up to date – 15.9%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 12-17 with completed vaccine series – 74.5%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 12-17 with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 76.2%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 12-17 who are up to date – 6.3%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 5-11 with completed vaccine series – 40.0%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 5-11 with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 40.9%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 5-11 who are up to date – 3.6%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 0-4 with completed vaccine series – 7.6%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 0-4 who are up to date – 7.6%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 76.4%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) - 80.8%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers who are up to date - 13.8%

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

Region

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Capital Region

14.67

14.63

14.72

Central New York

14.50

13.65

13.60

Finger Lakes

11.86

11.54

11.76

Long Island

9.27

9.20

8.89

Mid-Hudson

11.49

11.34

10.88

Mohawk Valley

12.19

11.83

11.36

New York City

10.75

10.22

9.57

North Country

15.00

14.56

13.91

Southern Tier

12.73

12.86

12.57

Western New York

13.28

12.41

11.90

Statewide

11.43

11.04

10.61


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

Region

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Capital Region

7.90%

8.10%

8.14%

Central New York

7.27%

7.19%

7.28%

Finger Lakes

6.52%

6.49%

6.66%

Long Island

3.19%

3.21%

3.20%

Mid-Hudson

3.49%

3.45%

3.39%

Mohawk Valley

6.95%

6.95%

7.23%

New York City

3.56%

3.47%

3.26%

North Country

7.62%

7.43%

7.19%

Southern Tier

6.85%

7.05%

6.91%

Western New York

11.58%

11.15%

10.70%

Statewide

4.45%

4.39%

4.28%

** 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

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Bronx

3.60%

3.42%

3.35%

Kings

3.21%

3.17%

2.84%

New York

3.80%

3.72%

3.65%

Queens

3.78%

3.73%

3.51%

Richmond

3.96%

3.65%

3.46%

** 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, 2,144 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 6,601,849. A geographic breakdown is as follows:

County

Total Positive

New Positive

Albany

78,905

35

Allegany

10,796

8

Broome

58,737

18

Cattaraugus

19,283

6

Cayuga

20,503

17

Chautauqua

29,458

10

Chemung

26,631

10

Chenango

11,831

3

Clinton

22,636

26

Columbia

13,936

10

Cortland

13,387

9

Delaware

10,189

4

Dutchess

84,980

37

Erie

269,334

93

Essex

7,697

10

Franklin

12,097

8

Fulton

16,623

10

Genesee

16,602

14

Greene

11,044

10

Hamilton

1,098

-

Herkimer

17,504

8

Jefferson

27,240

11

Lewis

7,350

3

Livingston

14,401

9

Madison

16,844

8

Monroe

192,242

121

Montgomery

15,067

4

Nassau

548,573

120

Niagara

59,680

19

NYC

3,079,972

773

Oneida

69,224

28

Onondaga

142,803

72

Ontario

26,208

12

Orange

140,064

64

Orleans

10,588

6

Oswego

34,709

16

Otsego

13,341

8

Putnam

31,656

13

Rensselaer

41,850

24

Rockland

118,819

24

Saratoga

61,607

31

Schenectady

43,759

29

Schoharie

6,598

7

Schuyler

4,328

2

Seneca

7,677

-

St. Lawrence

26,289

10

Steuben

25,295

15

Suffolk

567,449

141

Sullivan

24,682

8

Tioga

14,069

10

Tompkins

26,610

16

Ulster

43,278

31

Warren

18,956

16

Washington

15,855

32

Wayne

21,906

7

Westchester

335,207

103

Wyoming

9,936

5

Yates

4,446

-

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

130

75

57.7%

55

42.3%

Central New York

107

59

55.1%

48

44.9%

Finger Lakes

223

67

30.0%

156

70.0%

Long Island

277

135

48.7%

142

51.3%

Mid-Hudson

243

86

35.4%

157

64.6%

Mohawk Valley

46

24

52.2%

22

47.8%

New York City

808

330

40.8%

478

59.2%

North Country

52

28

53.8%

24

46.2%

Southern Tier

51

12

23.5%

39

76.5%

Western New York

170

86

50.6%

84

49.4%

Statewide

2,107

902

42.8%

1,205

57.2%

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 61,674. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

County

New Deaths

Bronx

2

Broome

1

Erie

4

Monroe

1

Nassau

1

New York

2

Queens

2

Richmond

2

Schenectady

1

Suffolk

1

Westchester

1

Wyoming

1

Grand Total

19

New Yorkers looking to schedule vaccine appointments for 5 to 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.

A geographic breakdown of New Yorkers who have been vaccinated and boosted by region is as follows:

Regional Vaccination Data by Provider Location

People with complete vaccine series

People who are up to date

Region

Cumulative
Total

Cumulative
Total

Capital Region

910,445

223,844

Central New York

616,669

146,400

Finger Lakes

829,996

235,662

Long Island

2,023,982

369,973

Mid-Hudson

1,575,302

333,445

Mohawk Valley

311,854

68,345

New York City

7,471,398

977,600

North Country

284,936

62,338

Southern Tier

420,046

104,932

Western New York

913,836

225,533

Statewide

15,358,464

2,748,072

Booster/Additional Shots

Region

Cumulative
Total

Increase over past 7 days

Capital Region

820,412

1,215

Central New York

545,776

841

Finger Lakes

865,144

1,381

Long Island

1,853,123

2,566

Mid-Hudson

1,512,441

2,270

Mohawk Valley

279,022

465

New York City

4,819,147

10,737

North Country

252,781

346

Southern Tier

389,326

534

Western New York

889,436

1,667

Statewide

12,226,608

22,022

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.

Contact the Governor's Press Office

Contact us by phone:

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

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