New York state makes up almost 45% of new COVID-19 cases in US

New York state appears to have about 45% of the nation’s recorded new positive COVID-19 cases.

New York state had 82,350 positive cases on Sunday, while the United States had 181,948 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. This comes amid new data from Gov. Kathy Hochul that shows hospitalizations in New York state from COVID-19 have reached the highest levels since February.

“We have seen an uptick in cases all around us. This is a northeastern phenomenon right now,” she said in a press conference. “This is just a devastating time to lose a loved one over the holidays.”

An estimated 5,500 New Yorkers were hospitalized from the omicron variant on Sunday. This is the third-largest wave of hospitalizations in the state since the start of the pandemic. The largest wave peaked in April 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic.

Hochul said the state took action in October and November to require hospitals to scale up capacity for beds and other services in anticipation of a winter surge. She estimated that they increased bed capacity by about 8% over recent weeks. The state is currently averaging about 180 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period, according to Hochul. Its caseload on Sunday was a new record, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

New York City appears to be leading the state with its case count. Its seven-day average for cases is 17,334, according to the most recent data from the city.

Earlier in the month, Hochul announced a new mask mandate for businesses that do not require vaccination in anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases. The state currently estimates that 88.6% of its population over the age of 18 is vaccinated with at least one dose. This is above the national average of 84.9% for the same demographic, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hochul said the state will announce an updated strategy to combat the virus on Friday. She said the state is looking to boost its testing capacity and is aiming to prepare for all scenarios, including worst-case scenarios.

The surge in cases comes amid the spread of the new omicron variant, which scientists believe can spread faster than other variants of COVID-19 but is often less severe.