Apr 15, 2021
- Thanks to the extraordinary efforts and commitment of our providers and volunteers, more than half of New Yorkers who are 18 and older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and more than a third of adults are fully vaccinated. On top of that, COVID hospitalizations dropped to the lowest level since December 1. We need to keep pushing COVID back until the threat is gone and we can do that with a combination of the vaccine and the public health measures we know stop the spread. You take the vaccine not just for yourself—you take it to keep other people safe.
Here's what else you need to know tonight:
1. COVID hospitalizations dropped to 3,963. Of the 249,103 tests reported yesterday, 6,884, or 2.76 percent, were positive. The 7-day average positivity rate was 3.05 percent. There were 886 patients in ICU yesterday, down one from the previous day. Of them, 559 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 46 New Yorkers to the virus.
2. As of 11am this morning, 39.6 percent of New Yorkers have completed at least one vaccine dose. Over the past 24 hours, 198,257 total doses have been administered. To date, New York has administered 12,638,792 total doses with 26.4 percent of New Yorkers completing their vaccine series. (These percentages include the entire population of New York, including children.) See data by region and county on the State's Vaccine Tracker: ny.gov/vaccinetracker.
3. "To-go" alcoholic beverages have been extended through May 6. Throughout the pandemic the State has permitted to-go alcoholic beverages with the purchase of food to help support bars and restaurants. Remember to drink responsibly.
4. Become a New York State Citizen Public Health Leader. To continue the fight against COVID and prepare for the next public health emergency, the State launched the free, online Citizen Public Health Training course for New Yorkers, in partnership with Cornell University and supported by the State University of New York. This program will prepare and equip New Yorkers to become Citizen Public Health Leaders and build an informed network across the state. Enroll for free today.
Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": Instead of finding shellfish for dinner, a British archaeologist stumbled upon something a bit more Jurassic. Marie Woods found the 175 million year-old fossilized footprint along the Yorkshire coast, which scientists believe belonged to a meat-eating dinosaur known as a Megalosaurus. Woods, worried that the footprint would be washed away by the sea, contacted specialists to document the discovery. The fossil is the largest footprint of this type of dinosaur ever found in Yorkshire.
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