GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES UPDATED COVID-19 MICRO-CLUSTER FOCUS ZONES

By CUOMO PRESS OFFICE | December 15, 2020


Yellow Precautionary Zone Expanded in Niagara County; New Yellow Precautionary Zones in Genesee and Oneida Counties

5,712 Patient Hospitalizations Statewide

1,040 Patients in the ICU; 572 Intubated

Statewide Positivity Rate is 5.66%

83 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced updated COVID-19 micro-cluster focus zones in New York State. Niagara County’s Yellow Precautionary Zone will be expanded. New Yellow Precautionary Zones will be added for Batavia, Genesee County, and for Rome and Utica, Oneida County.

“There is no politics or rhetoric in the number of people going into the hospital, and the increase in hospitalizations could overwhelm some regions if nothing changes by January,” Governor Cuomo said. “That’s the trajectory we’re looking at and trying to change. We’re simultaneously increasing hospital capacity and, frankly, changing how hospitals operate. At the same time we have to slow the spread by doing what we know works – social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding gatherings. If we don’t, we know what closes down a region. It’s called a red zone. That’s the situation we’re trying to avoid.”

On Friday, the NYS Dept. of Health outlined the new metrics including in the state’s Winter Plan for when an area is eligible to enter a “Yellow Zone” micro-cluster area. The geographic area will be eligible to enter a Yellow Zone if it has a 3 percent positivity rate (7-day average) over the past 10 days and is in the top 10 percent in the state for hospital admissions per capita over the past week and is experiencing week-over-week growth in daily admissions. Based on this criteria, the following areas today are designated as Yellow Precautionary Zones:

 

Modifications to Current Micro-Cluster Focus Zones

 

Niagara County – Click Here for Map

 

The current Niagara micro cluster will be expanded to include other areas in the county that have had high positivity and increasing hospitalizations, meeting the metrics for yellow zone designation.

 

New Focus Zones

 

Genesee County – Click Here for Map

 

A new yellow precautionary zone will be established in Batavia, which meets the metrics for yellow zone designation and accounts for the majority of hospital admissions from the county over the past two weeks.

 

Oneida County – Click Here for Map

 

A new yellow precautionary zone will be established in the Rome and Utica areas, which account for the vast majority of hospital admissions from the county and meet the metrics for yellow zone designation.

 

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:

 

  • Test Results Reported – 159,844
  • Patient Hospitalization – 5,712 (+302)
  • Patients Newly Admitted – 678
  • Hospital Counties – 56
  • Number ICU – 1,040 (+31)
  • Number ICU with Intubation – 572 (+5)
  • Total Discharges – 91,760 (+394)
  • Deaths – 83
  • Total Deaths – 27,870

 

The regional hospital bed capacity and occupancy numbers, including the number of hospitalizations as a percent of the region’s population, is as follows:

 

Region COVID Patients Currently in Hospital in Region COVID Patients as Percent of Region Population Percent of Hospital Beds Available in Region (7-Day Average)
Capital Region 269 0.02% 25%
Central New York 340 0.04% 24%
Finger Lakes 681 0.06% 24%
Long Island 935 0.03% 19%
Mid-Hudson 705 0.03% 26%
Mohawk Valley 193 0.04% 25%
New York City 1857 0.02% 19%
North Country 53 0.01% 46%
Southern Tier 153 0.02% 40%
Western New York 526 0.04% 25%
Statewide 5712 0.03% 23%

 

The regional ICU bed capacity and occupancy numbers are as follows:

 

Region Total ICU Beds in Region Total Occupied ICU Beds in Region Percent of ICU Beds Available in Region (7-Day Average)
Capital Region 269 171 42%
Central New York 290 194 32%
Finger Lakes 403 268 43%
Long Island 845 583 28%
Mid-Hudson 741 394 48%
Mohawk Valley 129 98 23%
New York City 2338 1664 25%
North Country 71 35 52%
Southern Tier 129 88 33%
Western New York 516 286 46%
NYS TOTAL 5731 3781 33%

 

Each region’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

 

REGION FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
Capital Region 5.52% 5.62% 5.89%
Central New York 6.73% 7.22% 7.11%
Finger Lakes 8.04% 8.12% 8.09%
Long Island 5.58% 5.62% 5.70%
Mid-Hudson 6.10% 6.01% 6.15%
Mohawk Valley 7.98% 8.02% 8.08%
New York City 3.99% 4.01% 4.04%
North Country 4.23% 4.06% 4.12%
Southern Tier 2.20% 2.30% 2.65%
Western New York 6.84% 6.94% 6.92%
Statewide 5.03% 5.07% 5.17%

 

Each New York City borough’s 7-day average percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

 

BOROUGH FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
Bronx 4.62% 4.54% 4.47%
Brooklyn 3.96% 4.00% 4.04%
Manhattan 2.51% 2.56% 2.63%
Queens 4.52% 4.57% 4.62%
Staten Island 6.06% 5.70% 5.64%

 

Of the 784,204 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

 

County Total Positive New Positive
Albany 8,050 162
Allegany 1,403 8
Broome 6,532 72
Cattaraugus 1,783 21
Cayuga 1,581 37
Chautauqua 2,365 42
Chemung 3,776 33
Chenango 880 12
Clinton 698 41
Columbia 1,225 21
Cortland 1,513 35
Delaware 520 8
Dutchess 9,290 144
Erie 33,397 388
Essex 375 2
Franklin 459 16
Fulton 851 26
Genesee 1,646 44
Greene 881 11
Hamilton 68 0
Herkimer 1,196 33
Jefferson 1,047 37
Lewis 574 7
Livingston 1,135 24
Madison 1,592 20
Monroe 23,745 542
Montgomery 796 30
Nassau 71,214 739
Niagara 6,016 110
NYC 358,081 3,029
Oneida 8,009 165
Onondaga 15,481 299
Ontario 2,108 55
Orange 19,756 220
Orleans 887 27
Oswego 2,440 51
Otsego 904 22
Putnam 3,795 52
Rensselaer 2,631 62
Rockland 24,183 192
Saratoga 3,477 111
Schenectady 3,781 113
Schoharie 342 16
Schuyler 389 6
Seneca 498 16
St. Lawrence 1,353 14
Steuben 2,443 35
Suffolk 75,454 1,087
Sullivan 2,469 14
Tioga 1,379 12
Tompkins 1,593 37
Ulster 4,393 66
Warren 756 2
Washington 587 13
Wayne 1,709 47
Westchester 59,431 594
Wyoming 895 12
Yates 372 10

 

Yesterday, 83 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 27,870. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

 

Deaths by County of Residence
County New Deaths
Albany 2
Bronx 2
Broome 2
Chemung 3
Cortland 4
Erie 8
Genesee 2
Jefferson 1
Kings 3
Madison 2
Manhattan 2
Monroe 6
Nassau 3
Niagara 3
Oneida 3
Onondaga 3
Orange 3
Otsego 1
Queens 7
Richmond 4
Rockland 2
Schenectady 1
Seneca 1
St. Lawrence 1
Suffolk 5
Tompkins 2
Westchester 6
Wyoming 1

 

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Additional news available at www.governor.ny.gov
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