NY coronavirus hospitalizations hit highest level since May

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A woman gets a self coronavirus test at a free walk-up Covid-19 testing site inside Penn Station. (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

NEW YORK (AP) - The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with coronavirus has risen to the highest level since mid-May, according to state figures released Saturday.

Officials said 6,208 people were hospitalized with the virus as of Friday — the largest number in the state since May 15.

The state on Saturday also reported 127 new deaths and 9,919 new cases.

Still, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York "can see the light at the end of the tunnel" with the arrival of the first vaccines.

"If we stay tough and be smart by socially distancing and wearing masks, we can avoid the holiday surge the experts are predicting and finally win this war," the governor said in a news release.

The numbers were announced as Cuomo sent a letter to President Donald Trump calling on the Republican to ensure Congress passes an "urgently needed" relief package with support for not only families but state and local governments.

"The American people need financial assistance to make it through the end of the year," Cuomo wrote. "Republican families need these relief checks as much as Democratic families."