NEW YORK — New York recorded a seven-month statewide high of 5,972 new coronavirus cases as numbers continue to soar in hotspots and upstate, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday.
The shocking state caseload recorded Friday was the most for a single day since late April, when the city and metro area was still reeling from the deadly first wave of the pandemic.
"We are in no way immune to the problems we are seeing elsewhere and we are entering a very dangerous period with the cold weather and holidays approaching," Cuomo said.
The avalanche of new cases came as the state recorded a new all-time record 207,000 coronavirus tests, of which 2.87% were positive.
Thirty-four New Yorkers died Friday of coronavirus.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said coronavirus is continuing to spread in the city as cases rose again Saturday and the number of new hospitalizations jumped.
The city recorded 1,345 COVID-19 cases, up a bit from the previous day. New hospitalizations also rose to 118, up 15% in just a day.
The rolling seven-day average positive test rate was 3.11%, also up a hair and above the city's self-proclaimed benchmark for closing city public schools.
"This weekend is critical to fighting back," de Blasio tweeted.
Within the five boroughs, Staten Island has the highest positive test rate at a one-week rolling average of 3.9%, followed by the Bronx at 3.2%. Queens logged in at 2.8%, Brooklyn at 2.3% and Manhattan at 1.9%, according to state figures.
Despite the alarming rises, the numbers are still far better in New York than most of the rest of the country, where the virus is spreading virtually out of control.
The U.S. daily caseload was 198,000 Friday and rising while nearly 2,000 Americans died of coronavirus. The situation is especially dire in the upper Midwest, where some states have taken few steps to control the spread.
