NYS COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decline, CNY food banks will receive $2.2 million in funding

NEW YORK (WSYR-TV) — New York State is less than two weeks away from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s PAUSE order expiring, and on Saturday the governor announced that COVID-19 numbers in the state continue to decline. Check out the slides from Cuomo’s press conference:

According to Governor Cuomo, the number of people currently in the hospital due to COVID-19 declined once again on Friday. Although the number of new hospitalizations continues to decline, 831 more people were admitted on Friday, and Cuomo said it’s, “still an unacceptably high rate.”

Tragically, COVID-19 claimed the lives of 299 more New Yorkers on Friday. The number of deaths per day has hovered around 300 for the last few days.

At his press conference Saturday, Governor Cuomo said the sate needs to lower the infection rate, and find out where the new hospitalizations are coming from. Governor Cuomo announced on Saturday that the state will begin asking hospitals for more specific information on their COVID-19 patients moving forward.

This will help the state determine where the new hospitalizations are coming from, and help the state formulate a plan to lower the infection rate.

The governor also announced New York State completed the country’s largest survey of antibody testing. Over 15,000 people were given the antibody test statewide, to determine if they had ever been infected with COVID-19.

The results from the survey show that about 12.3% of people in New York State were infected with COVID-19 at some point in time. In Central New York, the survey showed less than 2% of people had been infected with COVID-19.

The percentage of people who tested positive for the antibody test was lowest in the North Country and Central New York. This is more evidence to support Governor Cuomo’s claim from last week, that Central New York could be one of the first regions in the state to reopen.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues in the state, more and more people continue to need access to food. Governor Cuomo said $25 million will be distributed to food banks across New York State, to help with the increase in demand.

Central New York food banks will receive $2.2 million in funding, according to the governor.

Governor Cuomo also said the state will distribute seven million masks to New York State’s most vulnerable populations.

Last week, Governor Cuomo said Phase I of the reopening plan could begin once the New York PAUSE order expires. The PAUSE order is set to expire on May 15.

According to Johns Hopkins University, New York State continues to be the state most heavily impacted by COVID-19 with over 300,000 confirmed cases.