New York Reports Most Virus Cases Since May as Hot Spots Rage

(Bloomberg) -- New York state reported more than 1,300 new cases of coronavirus, the most since May.

Test results show positivity of 1.27%, while hospitalizations were at 612, Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters Thursday. There were 11 virus-related fatalities Wednesday.

After having been an early center of the pandemic, New York had largely quelled the crisis, but numbers are increasing again.

Cases in 20 hot-spot ZIP codes are continuing to rise, with 6.5% of tests being positive, up from 5.5% the day prior, Cuomo said during a conference call. The main increases have been in Brooklyn and in Rockland County, he said.

There were 109,000 tests conducted statewide on Wednesday. Excluding the problematic ZIP codes gives a positivity rate of 0.98%, he said.

The governor said that more than 1,200 state teachers, students and school staff members have tested positive for Covid-19 across the state.

The New York City system has been open for special needs and pre-K pupils. All other students came back to classroom this week on modified schedules.

The fortunes of the city's schools have been closely watched. The system is the largest in the U.S., and Mayor Bill de Blasio has gambled much of his remaining political capital on a successful reopening. Across the U.S., officials have had to calibrate the desires of parents, the business community and politicians -- not to mention the health of children -- and New York's experience is a belwether.

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