Long Island surpassed 800 new COVID-19 cases as the region appears to have hit a plateau in various virus indicators amid a surge in the delta variant, state data released Friday showed.
Nassau County registered 286 new daily cases in test results from Thursday, while Suffolk had 534. Long Island has been in that general range of new cases for weeks following the surge that started in mid-July.
New York City logged 1,386 new cases.
The seven-day average for positivity in testing for COVID-19 also continued to hover just below 3%, registering 2.75% for Long Island. The statewide average was 2.50%.
During the summer the level went above 4% regularly on Long Island but has since dipped. However, in late June, before the delta variant took off, the level was as low as 0.35% on Long Island.
Across the state 30 people died on Thursday of causes linked to the virus, including four in Suffolk.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state had made progress in the fight against the virus, but more people still needed to get vaccinated to shut down the pandemic.
“COVID-19 is still a threat to many New Yorkers who haven’t been vaccinated yet, and even through we’ve made progress on getting shots in arms, the vaccination rate needs to continue going up,” Hochul said in a statement.
“We’re operating convenient vaccination sites across the state, getting the word out to the 12 to 16 age group and offering exciting incentives to get the shot, but the buck stops with New Yorkers. Each and every eligible New Yorker should get vaccinated right away to protect their friends, families and communities.”
Speaking on WNYC’s “Brian Lehrer Show” on Friday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City’s hospitalization rate for coronavirus was the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic — 214 patients and the hospitalization rate per 100,000 was 0.69.
At the public hospitals, for example, there are 70 patients with coronavirus; at the peak, there were 3,700, Dr. Mitch Katz, president of the city health system, said Thursday.
With Matthew Chayes
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