New York reports over 85,000 COVID-19 cases, highest one day tally since outbreak

Amid the surge of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron in the United States, New York State has documented more than 85,000 new coronavirus infections on the last day of 2021, which is considered to be the highest number of cases in one day since the outbreak, officials revealed on Saturday. The number of COVID positive cases, which accounted for nearly 85,476, or approximately 22% of all tests submitted by the state, surpassed the previous high which was established just the day before.  

Since the state broke its prior all-time pandemic peak last month, the exponential trajectory has shown no indications of stopping, the New York Times reported. Furthermore, the real number of positive instances cannot be ascertained because of the at-home tests which are available to anyone who can now get results from the comfort of their homes. 

New York Governor urges people to mask-up

Meanwhile, the number of people admitted to hospitals has continued to rise. However, Governor of New York Kathy Hochul has told the citizens that the total number of admissions in the hospital is considerably below January's high of 9,300, as per the NBC New York. Announcing the release of the new figures, Hochul urged people to put their masks on, wash their hands, and obtain vaccination to fight against the disease. Further, in a statement, she said, “As we fight the winter surge, we need to keep the most vulnerable among us in mind — do what you can to keep others in your community safe from Covid-19,” New York Times reported.    

New York COVID tally

New York is one of many hotspots which is driving a nationwide spike, together with Washington, D.C., as well as other Eastern states. A total of 585,013 new instances were reported nationally on Thursday, setting a new high. According to Hochul's announcement, almost 90,000 vaccination doses were provided in New York State in the preceding 24 hours. COVID was responsible for 88 fatalities across the state. As per a New York Times statistic, there were 1,181 COVID fatalities nationwide on Friday.  

A sum of 21,000 positive tests in New York only two weeks earlier was enough to establish an alarming mark. The latest surge in positive cases has been fueled by the highly transmitted Omicron strain, which has served as an unpleasant warning that the outbreak was nearing its third year. In addition to this, the COVID-19 hospitalisations throughout the state have reached 8,451, with Hochul adding another 532 to the tally on Saturday, NBC New York reported. Furthermore, as per the Worldometers, more than 56,142,175 Americans have been affected by the COVID-19 disease in the nation since the outbreak, and over 847,408 people have died due to the illness. 

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