Cuomo warns NY of rising COVID cases as Thanksgiving approaches

NEW YORK - At a press conference on Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that at the current rate of infection, parts of Staten Island will go into orange and red zones, while parts of Upper Manhattan and Long Island will soon go into a yellow zone, possibly as early as this week.

“Staten Island is a serious problem,” Cuomo said. “Staten Island is also a problem in terms of overburdening hospitals and we’re running into a hospital capacity issue.”

Cuomo reiterated that the trajectory of coronavirus infections in New York is up to the actions of New Yorkers during the upcoming holiday week and that if people are not responsible, the state’s positivity rate could be as high as 9% by January.

“It’s up to individuals and it’s up to individual communities,” Cuomo said. 

Cuomo announced that reported coronavirus infections across the state had dipped slightly on Saturday, to 5,391, down from 5,972 on Friday. However, hospitalizations increased to 2,562. 

Another 30 New Yorkers died as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced another 1,394 new coronavirus cases in the city, bringing it's infection rate 7-day average to 3.09%.