Governor Cuomo Announces Updated Covid-19 Micro-Cluster Focus Zones

Yellow Precautionary Zone Expanded in Niagara County; New Yellow Precautionary Zones in Genesee and Oneida Counties

5,712 Patient Hospitalizations Statewide

1,040 Patients in the ICU; 572 Intubated

Statewide Positivity Rate is 5.66%

83 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced updated COVID-19 micro-cluster focus zones in New York State. Niagara County’s Yellow Precautionary Zone will be expanded. New Yellow Precautionary Zones will be added for Batavia, Genesee County, and for Rome and Utica, Oneida County.

“There is no politics or rhetoric in the number of people going into the hospital, and the increase in hospitalizations could overwhelm some regions if nothing changes by January,” Governor Cuomo said. “That’s the trajectory we’re looking at and trying to change. We’re simultaneously increasing hospital capacity and, frankly, changing how hospitals operate. At the same time we have to slow the spread by doing what we know works – social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding gatherings. If we don’t, we know what closes down a region. It’s called a red zone. That’s the situation we’re trying to avoid.”

On Friday, the NYS Dept. of Health outlined the new metrics including in the state’s Winter Plan for when an area is eligible to enter a “Yellow Zone” micro-cluster area. The geographic area will be eligible to enter a Yellow Zone if it has a 3 percent positivity rate (7-day average) over the past 10 days and is in the top 10 percent in the state for hospital admissions per capita over the past week and is experiencing week-over-week growth in daily admissions. Based on this criteria, the following areas today are designated as Yellow Precautionary Zones:

Modifications to Current Micro-Cluster Focus Zones

Niagara County – Click Here for Map

The current Niagara micro cluster will be expanded to include other areas in the county that have had high positivity and increasing hospitalizations, meeting the metrics for yellow zone designation.

New Focus Zones

Genesee County – Click Here for Map

A new yellow precautionary zone will be established in Batavia, which meets the metrics for yellow zone designation and accounts for the majority of hospital admissions from the county over the past two weeks.

Oneida County – Click Here for Map

A new yellow precautionary zone will be established in the Rome and Utica areas, which account for the vast majority of hospital admissions from the county and meet the metrics for yellow zone designation.

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:

Test Results Reported – 159,844
Patient Hospitalization – 5,712 (+302)
Patients Newly Admitted – 678
Hospital Counties – 56
Number ICU – 1,040 (+31)
Number ICU with Intubation – 572 (+5)
Total Discharges – 91,760 (+394)
Deaths – 83
Total Deaths – 27,870