Finally, some clarity. In his April 23 press briefing, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed the results of the state’s recent antibody testing, which was collected over a two-day period and conducted in 19 counties and 40 localities.
Governor Cuomo revealed that the random testing of 3,000 people had been executed at grocery stores and big box stores on people who “were out and about shopping”—in other words, weren’t isolated in their homes or working “essential” jobs. Of the 100 percent of people who were tested, 13.9 percent tested positive for the COVID-19 antibody (i.e. those people had had the virus, recovered and subsequently, developed the antibodies). Those data boil down to the fact that 2.7 million people were infected statewide and just 0.5 percent of those people (or approximately 15,500) succumbed to the virus.
Reflecting the data that has been coming in throughout the past several weeks, just 3.6 percent of those tested in Upstate New York had their results come back positive. That’s as opposed to 21.2 percent who came back positive in New York City.
While this is certainly actionable data for the state, Cuomo noted that in order for specific regions to begin reopening, regional analyses would have to take place first. The reopening would also have to be a coordinated effort between all parts of the state and the other states, such as New Jersey and Massachusetts, that surround New York.
In New York, the total number of hospitalizations and intubations continues to decrease, and the number of new COVID-19 cases entering hospitals remains flat. New York still leads all states in the union with more than 260,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 20,000 deaths from the virus.
