Cuomo: ‘Significant Increases’ of COVID-19 in Hudson Valley
The Mid-Hudson region is reporting the highest positivity rate of coronavirus in New York.
Governor Cuomo is concerned about the uptick in COVID-19 cases in parts of the Hudson Valley. 3.1 percent of tests from the Mid-Hudson region came back positive on Sunday.
"We are seeing elevated positive test rates in Brooklyn, Orange County and Rockland County," Cuomo tweeted. "Every New Yorker must: Wear a mask. Get tested. Social distance. Wash your hands often. Avoid large gatherings. Take this seriously, especially if you live in these areas."
The Governor detailed the uptick in cases and test positivity in select ZIP codes in New York State, where 27% of positive tests reported on Sunday came from ten ZIP codes where just 3% of the state's population resides, and 37% of positive cases came from 20 ZIP codes where just 6% of the state's population resides.
Four Hudson Valley zip codes are reporting the highest rate of coronavirus in New York State. The Spring Valley area had a 30 percent positivity rate, the Monsey area 25 percent and the Monroe region was at 22 percent. The Suffern region reported 18 percent positive COVID-19 test results.
Cuomo says those areas have helped bring the statewide infection rate up to 1.5 percent, the highest it's been in a while.
"We're coming into the fall and all the health experts say you have to be careful about the fall. People go indoors, colleges open, and it's flu season. We have spikes in other states and we have a global spike," Cuomo said. "We're also seeing in these numbers significant increases in localized clusters from Brooklyn, Orange and Rockland counties and the Southern Tier. This is the point of the testing we're doing, to be able to pinpoint and identify the clusters to find where the cases are coming from. We have specific zip codes in Brooklyn that we're going to be looking at because it's very localized and our health officials are going to be reaching out to those Brooklyn communities, and in Orange and Rockland communities today to do additional testing and compliance measures in those areas."
New York will deploy 200 rapid testing machines to the sites of several upticks in specific counties and zip codes throughout the state. The areas are Brooklyn, Orange County, Rockland County and the Southern Tier, officials say.