COVID-19 hospitalizations dip as New York surge levels off and vaccination push makes progress

Coronavirus infection rates and hospitalizations eased to recent lows Saturday as the feared spring surge of the pandemic apparently started to run out of steam in New York, at least for now.

The state’s seven-day coronavirus positivity rate fell to 3.31% and just 4,241 New Yorkers were hospitalized with COVID-19, both more than four-month lows, Gov. Cuomo said.

“We’re making great progress getting shots in arms across the state, but we need everyone to continue practicing safe behaviors,” Cuomo said.

The 7,283 new cases of coronavirus was not a new low, but it came from an extremely high number of tests, making the single-day positivity rate of 2.79%, the lowest in a month.

Fifty-seven New Yorkers died Friday, including 32 from the five boroughs, a number that has remained stubbornly high.

The encouraging numbers suggest New York is beating back the worldwide so-called fourth wave of the pandemic, at least for now.

Infections rose in New York and a handful of other states, notably Michigan, as more contagious variants took hold, even as more and more people get vaccinated.

In Europe, the latest surge has led to widespread new outbreaks and forced leaders to order new lockdowns and other restrictions to limit the spread. Brazil is grappling with its worst outbreak of the entire pandemic with more than 4,000 people dying in a single day last week.

But so far, the numbers in the U.S. have remained mostly steady and have not surged higher, perhaps because a larger share of the population are inoculated, especially among the highest-risk groups like the elderly.

The state’s vaccination program is also making rapid progress, Cuomo said.

More than 11.5 million doses of the vaccines have been administered in the state, with 1.4 million in the last week along.

About a third of New Yorkers have received at least one vaccination and 20% are fully vaccinated.