#New York’s COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations keep dropping

The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with COVID-19 has dropped below 7,000, hitting the lowest number since Christmas.

There were 6,888 hospital patients with the bug Friday, down 180 from the previous day, Gov. Cuomo said Saturday.

The statewide seven-day average positivity rate stood at 3.90 percent Friday, and 4.63 percent in New York City, also the lowest since Christmas in the Big Apple, Cuomo said.

But the state identified 11 more cases of the highly contagious UK virus variant — eight in New York City; two in Suffolk County; and one in Rockland County, which was that county’s first case. That brings to 70 the total number of identified cases in New York.

There were 125 COVID-19 deaths Friday including 68 among New York City residents.

Beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday, New Yorkers with underlying health conditions can sign up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through the state’s web site, Cuomo said.

He said the state’s mass vaccination sites, which include the Javits Center, would increase capacity to accommodate the extra vaccine seekers.

As of Saturday morning, the state had received 2,129,135 first doses of the vaccine and administered 1,923,259. It had given out 772,510 of 1,129,450 second doses.