Of the 193,551 COVID-19 tests reported on Tuesday in New York State, 8,973 were positive, or 4.63 percent of the total, down from 4.96 percent one day earlier, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday.
The rate topped 4 percent on Nov. 28 for the first time since May and has remained above the level ever since.
The COVID-19 test positivity rate in the focus areas under the state's micro-cluster strategy, where the outbreaks are targeted for their severity and potential of spread, was 5.88 percent on Tuesday, down from 6.27 percent on Monday, said Cuomo.
The statewide positivity rate excluding these focus areas was 4.21 percent on Tuesday, down from 4.46 percent one day earlier, said the governor.
The total hospitalizations were 3,924 on Tuesday, up from 3,774 on Monday, added Cuomo, who had warned that the state's COVID-19 hospitalizations could reach 6,000 in weeks based on the current trends.
"New York's first delivery of the Pfizer vaccine will be enough for 170,000 New Yorkers. We expect, if all safety & efficacy approvals are granted, to receive these doses on December 15," the governor tweeted earlier on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday noon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 34,662 coronavirus deaths in New York State, the worst in the country.
