Long Island reported more than 10,000 Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, breaking its record for the number of people diagnosed with the virus in a single day since testing was widely available, officials said.
The number of cases on LI jumped from last week’s high of 8,216 – 4,457 in Nassau County and 3,759 in Suffolk County – on Dec. 23 to 10,545 on Thursday, when there were 5,968 and 4,577 cases, respectively, a 28% increase over last week’s high, New York State Department health data shows.
“As we approach the New Year it is vitally important that we don’t let our guard down in our fight against the pandemic,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “Let’s make it our collective New Year’s resolution to leave Covid in the past. We have the tools and we know what works: Mask up, get vaccinated, get boosted, and exercise caution in large gatherings, especially this weekend.”
The average number of daily confirmed cases in the United States hit a record high of 258,312 over the past seven days, a Reuters tally showed on Wednesday, as U.S. officials weigh the impact of the more transmissible Omicron variant. The previous peak for the seven-day moving average was 250,141 confirmed cases recorded on Jan. 8 of this year. Daily records were broken this week in at least seven European nations.
While some data from other countries showed less disease with Omicron, it was too early to gauge the impact across the United States, particularly given its uneven vaccination rates, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said on Wednesday.
More than 76,000 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 nationwide, up 19% in the past 10 days, according to a Reuters tally.
In New York State, 67,090 people tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, up from 40,780 the day before. There were 97 Covid-19 deaths statewide on Tuesday, up from 77 the day before.
-With Reuters
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