Coronavirus hospitalizations have fallen below 500 patients for the first time since March 16 as New York's overall new infection rate has plunged to below 1% for two weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday said.  

"Part of the reason we were able to tame the beast in New York is because of our aggressive testing strategy. When the federal administration fell down, New York stepped up - and yesterday we raised the bar even higher with nearly 100,000 tests reported in a single day," Cuomo said. 

"We've been reopening for 14 weeks and our infection rate has actually done down - the positive test rate has been below 1 percent the past 14 days and the number of hospitalizations dropped below 500 for the first time since March 16. This is proof positive that when you have the virus under control, more testing does not equal more positives. But my message to New Yorkers remains the same: this is not over, we have to be smart, wear a mask, socially distance and be New York Tough!"

Hospitalizations now stand at 490 cases from the virus. Three people have died of COVID-19 in the last day. 

The state received the results from 98,880 tests, finding an infection rate of 0.72 percent or 709 new cases.