People wait in line to get tested for COVID at a mobile testing site in Times Square.
Highlights
- Over 85,000 people tested positive for coronavirus statewide on last day of 2021
- Positive COVID test results reached 85,476 on Dec 31 along with 88 more deaths
- The state reports that total number of deaths in New York since pandemic began has risen to 61,242
Over 85,000 people tested positive for the coronavirus statewide on the last day of 2021, a more than 10 per cent rise from the day before, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Saturday.
Hochul reported in a release that the positive COVID-19 test results reached 85,476 on Friday, along with 88 more deaths.
The continued escalation in positive test results raised the rate of positive tests to 22.2 per cent and the seven-day average to nearly 20 per cent, the state said.
The state reports that the total number of deaths in the state since the pandemic began has risen to 61,242. The number of patients hospitalized rose to 8,451 on Friday, an increase of 532 from the day before.
The deaths continue to occur even though the state reports that 89.2 per cent of New Yorkers who are 18 and over have received at least one vaccine shot.
Hochul urged anyone who has not gotten a second or third vaccine shot to do so as soon as possible.
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