NYC COVID positivity rate rises above 6%

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A restaurant employee moves between tables outside of a restaurant in Manhattan. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK - New York City's seven-day coronavirus positivity rate has risen again, this time to 6.26% as officials prepare for the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Saturday that another 2,575 new COVID-19 cases had been reported in the city, with another 193 people hospitalized.

The pandemic continued to rage throughout the rest of the state as well, as Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed that another 11,129 people tested positive for the virus in the state, bringing the statewide positivity rate to 4.58%.

Another 95 people died of COVID-19 in New York.

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"COVID cases are continuing to climb nationwide and with the holiday season in full swing, it could get worse before it gets better," Governor Cuomo said in a statement. "The federal government must do its job and provide resources to state and local governments to equitably administer the vaccine and provide badly needed support for businesses and the unemployed."

On Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that beginning December 14, indoor dining in New York City would be closed in order to help fight the rising wave of cases in the city.

NYC indoor dining to shut down on December 14

Governor Cuomo has decided to close all indoor dining in New York City despite statistics from contact tracers that restaurants are not a main spreader of the virus.

The surge in cases has left doctors and nurses across the nation exhausted and demoralized and hospitals overrun as they struggle to cope with the pandemic.

So far, over 290,000 Americans have died as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.