COVID cases in New York state triple, hit new record on Friday

New York state is seeing a surge in new coronavirus infections and officials are implementing restrictions to curb the spread.

New York State reported 21,027 positive COVID test results on Thursday, a new single-day record, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday.

This brings the positivity rate in New York to 7.98%. The state also reported 60 new COVID-related deaths over the last two days.

"The winter surge in COVID-19 cases is a reminder that the pandemic is not over yet, and we must take extra care to keep ourselves and each other safe," Hochul said in a statement. "The vaccine is still our best weapon to defeat the virus and ensure we are safe from serious illness. Get the shot if you haven't yet and the booster if you have, mask up, and wash your hands."

The state also reported 178 confirmed omicron cases. It's likely there are more because only a fraction of positive results are sequenced to determine which strain of the virus it is.