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Gov. Kathy Hochul tests positive for COVID-19

Kathy Hochul, wearing a red dress, speaking at a podium in front of a blue monitor that says "NYS GOES #VAXtoSCHOOL SAFELY."
Darren McGee
/
Office of the Governor
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a COVID-19 briefing Sept. 23, 2021.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, saying she will isolate and work remotely this week.

"Thankfully, I'm vaccinated and boosted, and I'm asymptomatic," Hochul, 63, wrote on Twitter. "A reminder to all New Yorkers: get vaccinated and boosted, get tested, and stay home if you don't feel well."

A day earlier, the Democratic governor had tweeted a photo from the Olana State Historic Site outside Hudson, NY, which she visited to thank park volunteers.

Hochul's positive test comes amid rising case numbers in New York. For weeks, much of upstate New York has been in the high-alert orange zone, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designation that reflects serious community spread.

New York City last week crossed the city's threshold for "medium risk," indicating the widening spread of the subvariant knowns as BA.2 that has swept the state's northern reaches.

Nearly all counties in Western New York and the Finger Lakes, as well as many other Upstate New York counties, are now considered to be in the "high risk' category for COVID-19 infections, according to the CDC.

Hochul is among several U.S. governors to test positive in recent months. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Maine Gov. Janet Mills tested positive in April. New York City Mayor Eric Adams tested positive for COVID-19 on April 10, his 100th day in office.

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