Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Announces Lowest COVID-19 Hospitalizations Since November 30

Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped to 3,884, the lowest since November 30. The statewide 7-day average positivity rate dropped to 3.04 percent, the lowest since November 25.

VIDEO of the Governor's remarks is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of today's remarks is available here.

PHOTOS are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Let me talk through the COVID numbers today. Overall statewide positivity is 2.8 percent. Statewide deaths - 43, we remember them in our thoughts and prayers. Hospitalizations - 3,800, that's good news, that's down 79, that's the lowest since November 30, which is basically Thanksgiving, so we are fully back at this point before the holiday surge. ICU down 18, intubations down 16. Positivity continues to decline, you look at where we are now at 3.04 percent, it's a long way from January 4, so that is good news statewide. Hospitalizations also continue to decline, and that's also very good news.

Again, the positivity across the State varies and it varies widely. And we have some of the lowest and we have some of the highest. Western New York is again one of the highest positivities in the State and I want to speak to that in a moment. But, you look at Western New York at 4.9 percent, and then look at the Southern Tier at 0.8 percent, and ask yourself, "Why? Why? Why is the Southern Tier 0.8 percent and Western New York 4.93 percent?" Mohawk Valley - 2 percent. Central New York - 1.4 percent. Capital Region - 2.3 percent. New York City - 3.2 percent. Western New York - the positivity has gone up and down, but recently we have seen an increase and it is concerning. Western New York, we've seen again, on hospitalizations up and down, but we have seen an increase, and again it's concerning.

Our vaccination efforts are going very well, we are dependent on the supply from the Federal Government, but we have literally hundreds of vaccination distribution sites, we're spending millions of dollars on vaccinations and public education about vaccinations. As you know, it's not just a race between the rate of infection of COVID, the spread of COVID and the number of vaccinations, that's what this is. There are two lines: one line is the rate of increase of COVID, possible variants of COVID, the second is how many vaccinations are we getting in arms.

To Western New York, where the numbers are dramatically different than other parts of the State, I want to make it especially clear that it is the actions of a community that matter, actions of an individual, actions of individuals and then as a collective, actions of that community. It is a function of human behavior, it is that simple. As complicated as COVID is, is as simple as COVID is. It's a virus, and we know how the virus spreads. So it's a question of your behavior and your precautions. The more precautions you take, the fewer people get infected. The less precautions, the more. So we're at a point now where everyone knows the facts. We've communicated all the information that we can communicate. We've beseeched people to take it seriously, but it is now up to you. It's up to you as an individual, you as a family, you as a community.

What is going to happen in Western New York over the next several months? We want to get back to life as normal. We want to get back to going to Buffalo Bills games and Sabres games and picnics, and school as we knew it, and socializing as we knew it. It's going to be a function of what we do between now and then. It is that simple. It's going to be a function of how many vaccinations we take. I do believe that there is a civic and community duty for individuals to take a vaccine. No one can be safe unless everyone is safe. And I do believe that no person really has the moral right to transmit COVID. You can say I have a legal right, I don't have to get a vaccine. That's true. But ask yourself, do you have the moral right? Do you have the social right to infect other people?

Some people are healthier than others, some people are younger than others, and they say well, I don't have to take it. I understand that. But, you could infect someone who winds up dying. Some people say, "well, I don't want to be a scientific experiment." Twelve million doses in the State of New York, 12 million. No one's asking you to go first. Twelve million people have taken doses. We have international experience on Pfizer and Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson, which they paused, was one of the acts of hyper-caution. Six people out of 6 million people had a bad reaction. That's one in 1 million. You have a greater chance of getting infected by COVID and dying from COVID than even with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. So, those are the facts, and I would urge people to know the facts and to respond to the facts. Those who say, "well, I look at numbers, I look at facts, I look at statistics, I look at logic." They all point in one direction. And this should be a decision that is made logically and intelligently, and not politically or emotionally.

There is a reason why Western New York is higher than the rest of the state, and that reason is communal behavior. We got the number down once because Western New York was at a high point once before. We got the number down once, we can get the number down again. We just have to choose to do it.