New COVID cases in the last week have nearly doubled in NY State, also up locally

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — New COVID cases have nearly doubled over the past week. State officials point to a lag in vaccinations with Delta variant cases surging.

Day by day, it’s an alarming trend in new infections.

Here in New York – 2,000 new COVID patients in a single 24-hour period has not been seen since mid-May, but cases are nearly there right now.

The latest numbers as of Sunday:

Statewide: 1,982 new infections or 2.23% of daily tests. That is a full percentage point higher than last Sunday.

The state’s 7-day average is now up to 1.76%.

The Finger Lakes region which includes Rochester and Monroe County has a rate of 1.78% as our weekly rate on positive tests continues to climb.

Governor Andrew Cuomo sent out another warning – saying the new variants are "cause for concern," adding it’s vital every New Yorker who isn’t vaccinated gets shots immediately.

Across the country, vaccination rates have hit their lowest levels since the end of January.

We’ll get a better look at the local state of the pandemic on Monday when Monroe County’s weekly numbers come out.

As of last Monday, we were averaging around 20 new COVID cases per day.