ALBANY – There were 9,663 new COVID-19 cases reported on Friday, the State Health Department reported on New Year’s Day. A total of 15 people died in the region on December 31, 2021.
| COUNTY | NEW DEATHS |
| Delaware | 1 |
| Dutchess | 1 |
| Greene | 1 |
| Orange | 2 |
| Rockland | 1 |
| Sullivan | 1 |
| Ulster | 1 |
| Westchester | 7 |
| COUNTY | TOTAL POSITIVE | NEW POSITIVE |
| Columbia | 7,061 | 107 |
| Delaware | 5,555 | 56 |
| Dutchess | 46,464 | 838 |
| Greene | 6,235 | 77 |
| Orange | 77,891 | 1,770 |
| Putnam | 17,260 | 520 |
| Rockland | 68,241 | 1,676 |
| Sullivan | 12,561 | 292 |
| Ulster | 22,596 | 270 |
| Westchester | 186,739 | 4,057 |
| STATEWIDE GRAND TOTAL | 3,555,040 | 85,476 |
On Saturday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced issuance of spring semester reopening guidance for SUNY and CUNY campuses which includes to continuation of the student vaccine mandate as well as requiring all students regularly accessing campus to receive the COVID-19 booster for the spring semester.
Additional requirements for students who plan to regularly access campus include mandatory pre-testing ahead of their semester return, and each campus will develop and communicate an ongoing testing plan to monitor for positive cases throughout the semester.
Campuses will continue to enforce universal indoor masking regardless of vaccination status and social distancing for anyone who is unvaccinated on campus.
The governor also announced a new partnership between the State Health Department and the New York National Guard that will train soldiers to become certified EMTs, resulting in additional service members eligi9ble for clinical deployments at health care facilities in need of staff due to the winter surge of COVID-19.
