Albany, N.Y. - Gov Cuomo held a press conference call today.
He said that the infection rate numbers in the Mohawk Valley are the highest in the state, standing at 8.5%, just a little ahead of the Finger Lakes region. He said of the 164,868 novel coronavirus tests reported to New York State officials on Monday, 5.8% were positive. There are 6,661 Covid-19 patients in New York hospitals, an increase, and 139 people died from the disease. He warned that those numbers could go up after the Holidays.
Cuomo said hospital capacity is a concern. He announced that hospitals that have 21 days until only 15% capacity, need to let the state know. No hospital as of yet has reached that point.
Regarding shutdowns, Cuomo said his unofficial season’s greeting card and motto over the holidays is, "celebrate smart, stop shutdowns.”
Cuomo also warned that that UK variant of COVID that is suspected to be 70% more contagious, may already be in the US. He said that they are working to test to see if the COVID variant is in NY. He said Dr. Fauci says it's here.
He also announced that 50,000 doses of vaccine have already been administered in NYS so far. The state has received 630,000 dosages and another 300,000 are expected by end of next week.
Governor Cuomo also offered some hope for Buffalo Bills fans. He said the Department of Health is working on coming up with a plan with the Bills to attempt to allow fans into the stadium for games. Testing and data underway to see if it will be possible and safe Cuomo said.