Two counties in
the Hudson Valley are contributing to the increase of new COVID-19 cases in New
York state.
According to state officials, there are at least 10 New
York zip codes that are seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases with Rockland and
Orange counties topping the list.
They say Spring Valley has the highest
percentage of positive coronavirus results in the state.
Monsey comes in with
the second highest. Both are communities located within the town of Ramapo.
The third highest rate in the state was
found in Orange County in the village of Monroe, and the Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) says he is immediately making 200
rapid testing machines available to the areas hardest hit by the increase in
cases.
And he's warning drastic measures may
need to be taken, if the state's infection rate does not improve.
The county executives in both Rockland and Orange say they
are concerned about the spike in new COVID-19 cases, and plan to step up
enforcement of social distancing rules.
Many
people who have spoken to News 12 say they are worried about what might come
next. "Nobody
wants to see that, but sometimes you have to do
what you have to do to protect people; sometimes they
don't think what's best for themselves but you need a little reminder from
somebody else to make sure you do the right thing," says Sidney Lipschitz, of Spring Valley.