COVID-19 numbers continued a steady decline to all-time lows not seen since last summer, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Tuesday, though he said more people need to get vaccinated to wipe out the virus.
The seven-day statewide average for positive results in testing for the virus was 0.65%, a new low, Cuomo said. The daily level statewide positivity rate was 0.77% in test results from Monday.
The seven-day average of virus positives on Long Island was 0.59%, while it was 0.50% in New York City, according to state data.
“New Yorkers are continuing to beat back COVID every day and as the numbers keep going down we are able to get our economy back up and running and move our state into the future,” Cuomo said in a statement.
The number of new confirmed cases was 17 in Nassau County, 28 in Suffolk County and 176 in New York City.
There were a total of 50,528 test results from across New York on Monday, a lower number than usual on the Memorial Day holiday. The state has regularly reported test results exceeding 100,000 and even 200,000 per day through the spring season.
Statewide, eight people died on Monday of virus-related causes, though none on Long Island.
The Monday numbers continued a trend of lows for new infections not seen in months, matching a total of only 45 cases on Long Island in results from Sunday.
Nassau had a 0.5% positivity rate on Sunday, with 26 new positives out of 5,292 test results, state data shows. Suffolk had a 0.3% rate, with 19 new positives of 6,019 tests.
Long Island’s case numbers Sunday were in line with last summer’s lows, the state data shows. One of the last days Nassau tracked such a low number of new positives was July 5, when the county registered 22 positives. Suffolk’s new positives Sunday fell below summer lows, such as the 21 positives reported on Aug. 23.
New York City’s coronavirus positivity rate is 0.83% — the lowest on record ever, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday, crediting vaccinations for the drop.
“Since we started testing and measuring, this is the lowest level that we’ve had. And it’s absolutely amazing,” he said, speaking at his daily news conference from City Hall.
The 0.83% rate is a seven-day average as of May 30, according to a slideshow at de Blasio’s briefing. The city calculates the rate differently than the state does.
Due to the declining level of new cases, de Blasio said, the city’s senior centers are reopening — outdoor activities immediately, and indoors on June 14, with social distancing and other precautions.
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