Hochul tests positive for COVID-19

Gov. Kathy Hochul has tested positive for the coronavirus, she announced Sunday afternoon, the latest high-level government official to come down with the virus in recent weeks.

Hochul, who is vaccinated and boosted, said in a tweet Sunday that she is asymptomatic and will isolate and work remotely this week. She canceled a scheduled trip to Washington, D.C., Sunday as a result.

Other high-level officials who have tested positive recently include Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others.

Hochul’s positive test comes at a time when New York State is seeing an uptick in cases. The daily number of positive tests surpassed 10,000 Wednesday for the first time since January. That number rose further to 13,902 Thursday but came down to 9,940 Saturday, according to state data released Sunday.

Experts, however, warned that the actual figure could be much higher if home test results are included. Earlier this month, the rise of new cases led New York City health officials to raise the risk level to medium.

On Long Island, 1,797 positive tests were reported Saturday whereas the numbers were in the hundreds just a month ago. In Nassau County, 953 people tested positive Saturday. In Suffolk, the number was 844.

The increase in cases is driven by omicron subvariants with BA.2 accounting for 61.9% and BA.2.12.1 making up 36.5% of the cases nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The spike has not led to an increase in hospitalizations and deaths but medical experts urged people to remain cautious as most virus-related restrictions were lifted.

Hochul’s office has kept the state mask mandate on public transit in place despite the ruling of a federal judge last month that overturned a federal mask mandate for passengers on public transportation. 

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.