ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – Governor Kathy Hochul today updated New Yorkers on the state’s progress combating COVID-19 on Saturday, January 1. Officials continue to urge New Yorkers to utilize the tools we have by getting vaccinated, getting their booster, wearing a mask, and washing their hands.

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:  

  • Test Results Reported – 384,365 
  • Total Positive – 85,476
  • Percent Positive – 22.24%
  • 7-Day Average Percent Positive – 19.79% 
  • Patient Hospitalization – 8,451 (+532)
  • Patients Newly Admitted – 1,808
  • Patients in ICU – 1,112 (+40)
  • Patients in ICU with Intubation – 554 (+29)
  • Total Discharges – 232,184 (1,334)
  • New deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 88
  • Total deaths reported by healthcare facilities through HERDS – 48,496

The Health Electronic Response Data System is an NYS DOH data source that collects confirmed daily death data as reported by hospitals, nursing homes, and adult care facilities only.   

  • Total deaths reported to and compiled by the CDC – 61,242

This daily COVID-19 provisional death certificate data reported by NYS DOH and NYC to the CDC includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice, and other settings.   

  • Total vaccine doses administered – 33,741,158
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 24 hours – 89,675
  • Total vaccine doses administered over past 7 days – 664,655
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose – 89.2%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series – 80.6%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 95.0%
  • Percent of New Yorkers ages 18 and older with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 82.9%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose – 78.1%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 69.8% 
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose (CDC) – 84.0%
  • Percent of all New Yorkers with completed vaccine series (CDC) – 71.8%

Each region’s 7-day average of cases per 100K population is as follows:  

Region Wednesday, December 29, 2021 Thursday, December 30, 2021 Friday, December 31, 2021
Capital Region90.85109.33123.60
Central New York91.69107.14130.52
Finger Lakes72.9586.33104.13
Long Island293.16321.72348.88
Mid-Hudson209.51233.52260.99
Mohawk Valley77.4885.34105.94
New York City359.92387.27419.08
North Country52.1364.2774.60
Southern Tier78.6791.08105.03
Western New York101.55121.42139.32
Statewide248.11271.60297.74

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

RegionWednesday, December 29, 2021Thursday, December 30, 2021Friday, December 31, 2021
Capital Region11.53%13.41%14.56%
Central New York11.29%13.04%14.91%
Finger Lakes11.87%13.91%15.68%
Long Island18.78%20.75%22.69%
Mid-Hudson15.39%16.97%19.35%
Mohawk Valley10.44%11.37%12.58%
New York City16.90%18.58%20.56%
North Country8.21%10.51%11.94%
Southern Tier9.51%11.11%12.24%
Western New York13.29%15.02%16.42%
Statewide16.21%17.91%19.79%

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

Borough in NYCWednesday, December 29, 2021Thursday, December 30, 2021Friday, December 31, 2021
Bronx20.77%22.99%25.50%
Kings16.21%17.72%19.42%
New York14.51%15.62%17.36%
Queens17.98%19.78%21.74%
Richmond17.38%19.49%21.44%

As of Friday, December 31, 85,476 New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total compiled by HERDS to 3,555,040. A geographic breakdown is as follows:  

CountyTotal PositiveNew Positive
Albany41,708575
Allegany7,00526
Broome33,926414
Cattaraugus11,57376
Cayuga11,551132
Chautauqua17,823146
Chemung15,282190
Chenango6,78568
Clinton10,057157
Columbia7,061107
Cortland7,377121
Delaware5,55556
Dutchess46,464838
Erie151,2622,373
Essex3,75965
Franklin6,50061
Fulton9,12162
Genesee10,26891
Greene6,23577
Hamilton63014
Herkimer10,246135
Jefferson13,354103
Lewis4,79524
Livingston8,60597
Madison9,237151
Monroe115,2411,565
Montgomery8,46983
Nassau302,3667,716
Niagara34,866472
NYC1,594,68249,724
Oneida39,750560
Onondaga72,1731,213
Ontario14,302180
Orange77,8911,770
Orleans6,51746
Oswego17,454250
Otsego6,69259
Putnam17,260520
Rensselaer21,441308
Rockland68,2411,676
Saratoga31,400448
Schenectady22,875276
Schoharie3,47041
Schuyler2,43722
Seneca4,01152
St. Lawrence15,296116
Steuben14,793132
Suffolk327,0386,803
Sullivan12,561292
Tioga7,761101
Tompkins11,711166
Ulster22,596270
Warren9,221105
Washington8,41388
Wayne12,466122
Westchester186,7394,057
Wyoming6,31056
Yates2,41828
Grand Total3,555,04085,476

Given the rate of spread of Omicron, it is more meaningful to report the percentage of Omicron variants as reported to the public COVID-19 sequence databases, than to report counts of individual cases. This percentage can then be related to the total positive COVID case count in the state. This process is consistent with how the New York State Department of Health has reported on all other variants online.

Data in the GISAID database, the largest repository of SARS-CoV-2 sequences in the world, show the Omicron variant comprised 89% of uploaded sequences from NYS between 12/17/21 and 12/30/21. This is a significant increase from the 78% announced on Thursday, which covered 12/16/2021 to 12/29/2021, and is evidence of the ongoing rapid spread of this variant. Due to the holiday, updated numbers for today are not available.

It should be noted that similar data reported from the CDC, updated this week, uses a statistical model to project the variant percentages for a more recent timeframe. This projection approach partly explains the different percentages for the Omicron variant reported by CDC this week.  

As of Friday, December 31, 88 New Yorkers died due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 48,496. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:     

Deaths by County of Residence
CountyNew Deaths
Bronx2
Broome3
Chautauqua2
Clinton1
Delaware1
Dutchess1
Erie3
Fulton1
Genesee1
Greene1
Herkimer1
Kings15
Madison1
Manhattan3
Monroe3
Montgomery1
Nassau6
Niagara3
Oneida1
Onondaga3
Orange2
Oswego1
Queens9
Rensselaer2
Richmond1
Rockland1
Suffolk8
Sullivan1
Ulster1
Wayne2
Westchester7

All New York State mass vaccination sites are open to eligible New Yorkers aged 12 years and older for walk-in vaccination on a first-come, first-serve basis, with 10 sites open to eligible New Yorkers aged 5 and older. Preference to a scheduled appointment at a state-run mass vaccination site can do so on the Am I Eligible App or by calling 1-833-NYS-4-VAX. You may also contact your local health department, pharmacy, doctor, or hospital to schedule appointments where vaccines are available or by visiting vaccines.gov to find information on vaccine appointments near you.

New Yorkers looking to schedule vaccine appointments for 5-11-year-old children are encouraged to contact their child’s pediatrician, family physician, county health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), rural health centers, or pharmacies that may be administering the vaccine for this age group. Parents and guardians can visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby locations.

Make sure that the provider offers the Pfizer-BioNTechCOVID-19 vaccine, as the other COVID-19 vaccines are not yet authorized for this age group. Visit the website for parents and guardians for new information, frequently asked questions and answers, and resources specifically designed for parents and guardians of this age group.