NYS COVID-19 test positivity rates trend down: governor

The COVID-19 test positivity rate in the focus areas under New York state's micro-cluster strategy, where the pandemic has been the most severe in the state, was 4.11 percent on Wednesday, down from 4.73 percent one day earlier, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday.

The statewide positivity rate excluding these focus areas was 2.38 percent, down from 3.10 percent on Tuesday, he said.

Of the 195,239 tests reported Wednesday, 5,310 were positive, or 2.72 percent of the total, down from 3.43 percent one day earlier, he added.

"The C.D.C. (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Urges Americans to Avoid Thanksgiving Travel," the governor tweeted after posting the figures.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 34,206 coronavirus deaths in New York state, the worst in the country.