New York COVID-19 cases holding steady
New York reported 59,646 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, from 60,317 the week before of the virus that causes COVID-19.
New York ranked No. 2 among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week the United States added 632,914 reported cases of coronavirus, a decrease of -22.9% from the week before. Across the country, 3 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Within New York, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Bronx, Fulton and Richmond counties. Adding the most new cases overall were Kings County, with 8,975 cases; Queens County, with 8,496 cases; and Bronx County, with 6,813. Weekly case counts rose in 15 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Bronx, Queens and Kings counties.
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The share of New York test results that came back positive was 3.8% in the latest week, compared with 4.5% in the week before, a USA TODAY Network analysis of COVID Tracking Project data shows. In the latest week, 1,538,485 tests were administered; a week earlier, that figure was 1,336,716. Experts say it is important to look at the share of tests that come back positive, not just case counts, to get a better idea of whether the rate of new infections is changing or if differences in testing are playing a role.
The World Health Organization says places should be conducting enough tests to have fewer than 5% coming back positive. Places where the percentage is higher could struggle to complete contact tracing soon enough to prevent spread of the virus.
Across New York, cases fell in 45 counties, with the best declines in Suffolk, Nassau and Albany counties.
In New York, 1,045 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 1,205 people were reported dead.
A total of 1,539,870 people in New York have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 45,884 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 27,640,282 people have tested positive and 485,336 people have died.
