NYC Coronavirus Positivity Dips Below 5% For First Time In Months

NEW YORK CITY — The latest coronavirus numbers show signs New York City has the virus in retreat.

New York City's average coronavirus positivity rate stood at 4.91 percent, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday.

It's the first time the level dipped below 5 percent since Nov. 29, according to city data.

“That is a profoundly good sign,” de Blasio said. “So, I know everyone's been working really hard — let's keep working, let's just run COVID out of this town once and for all. But I hope everyone there can see the fruits of your labors because things are really starting to change.”

City officials set up a 5 percent positivity threshold as a sort of warning light for COVID-19 infections across the boroughs.

The city's positivity on a seven-day average stood below, sometimes far below, the threshold during the summer and early fall months. But it ticked up and eventually surpassed it amid a wider holiday season surge.

Positivity levels on Jan. 3 reached 9.83 percent — the highest point since the pandemic's early days, according to city data.

They've slowly declined since then and appeared to plateau near 6 percent as new, more-transmissible coronavirus variants took hold in the city.

But vaccinations against COVID-19 during that time also rose. De Blasio said the city hit a single-day record on April 16, with 106,527 shots going into arms that day.

About 5.7 million doses have been distributed in New York City so far, de Blasio said. And 2 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to city data.