Governor Andrew Cuomo gave an update on New York State’s progress with COVID-19, including a recent jump in the statewide positivity rate. Cuomo spoke Monday morning saying there has been a big increase in positivity statewide. The numbers reported were at 8.33% as of Sunday, a big jump since Friday. The 7-day average is 5.9% positivity.

The Southern Tier continues to be the region with the lowest positivity rate, at 3.37%, up from Friday’s 2.94%, and also continues to have 46 percent of hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients. By the end of this week, the Southern Tier region will have received 28,600 vaccines.

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Meanwhile in our region, The Mohawk Valley, the latest 7-day COVID-19 positivity rates, deaths and hospitalizations, were all greater in the more rural area of the Mohawk Valley Region than in the more than twice as populated Capital Region. The New York State Department of Health released figures this weekend showing 9 new COVID-19 deaths in the six counties that make up the region. However, there were seven new COVID-19 deaths in the eight counties that make up the Capital Region, with an estimated total population of 1.1 million people.

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