Rockland Coronavirus Update: Active Cases Declining

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — With 89 people hospitalized in Rockland with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, the county appears to be part of the statewide trend downward after the holiday spike.

There are 2,641 active coronavirus cases in the county, down from 2,910 Jan. 13.

The positivity rate is now 5.47 percent statewide. The Hudson region overall is above average, with a positivity rate of 6.77 percent.

As the state positivity rate has continued to trend downward, a rate of transmission of below 1.0, and projection models indicating a continued decline, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday he expects to make announcements about reopenings and reductions in restrictions in certain parts of the economy; specifically, in the orange and yellow microcluster zones.

That could include Rockland County, most of which is in a yellow zone.

Since Jan. 13, 25 people have died of COVID-19 in Rockland. The death toll, known as a "lagging indicator" because it reports outcomes weeks after people have gotten sick, was at 830 as of Jan. 25, according to the county's coronavirus dashboard. At the beginning of 2021 it was at 793.

With more than 1.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine now in arms statewide, Cuomo said the state is on a "week-to-week" basis, with deliveries of 250,000 doses currently expected each week. Every person who received a first dose will receive a second, he assured.

Supply remains the issue, Cuomo said.

The country's supply of coronavirus vaccine comes from the federal government and is extremely limited — New York is allocated about 250,000 doses a week. More than 7 million New Yorkers are now eligible for the vaccine. Eligible groups include doctors, nurses and health care workers, people age 65 and over, first responders, teachers, public transit workers, grocery store workers and public safety workers.