New York’s COVID positivity rate reaches lowest point since pandemic hit

New Yorkers have a real reason to celebrate this Memorial Day Weekend.

The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate has reached its lowest point since the start of the pandemic, Gov. Cuomo announced Saturday.

The seven-day average dropped to 0.73% — a record low — and the daily positivity rate dropped even further to 0.62% in the past 24 hours.

“Our numbers have been trending in the right direction ... and they continue to do so because of what the people of this state have done,” Cuomo said.

The previous record low was in the last week of August, when the seven-day positivity rate dropped to 0.75% before infections, hospitalizations and deaths surged with the arrival of cooler weather.

The state logged just 870 new COVID cases in the past day out of 140,392 tests administered, Cuomo said.

The daily infection rate was even lower in New York City where four of the five boroughs beat the statewide average. Only Staten Island lagged behind with an average positivity rate of 0.85% recorded Friday.

Statewide hospitalizations also dipped to 1,143, nearly 20% fewer than a week ago.

Twelve New Yorkers died from coronavirus, half of them in the city.

As the infection rates keep tumbling down, vaccination rates keep rising. Nearly 18.9 million vaccines have been administered across the state, a total that is increasing by about 600,000 a week.

About 53% of all New Yorkers have received at least one dose and 45% are completely vaccinated, Cuomo said.