New York, Dec 28 (IANS): Total Covid-19 hospitalizations topped 7,000 on Saturday in New York state, reaching 7,183, up from 6,884 on Friday, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The state's Covid-19 hospitalizations topped 6,000 on December 15 and have remained above the level ever since, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Cuomo once warned that a post-Christmas hike of coronavirus hospitalizations was expected, because people would usually gather to celebrate during the holiday, which could largely fuel the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, of the 130,299 Covid-19 tests reported on Saturday in the state, 7,623 were positive, or 5.85 per cent of the total, up from 5.36 per cent one day earlier, added the governor.

"As we near the end of the holiday season, New York remains locked in a footrace between the vaccine's quick distribution and Covid-19's continued spread," Cuomo was quoted as saying in an official release.

"New York is working closely with the medical community to not only administer the vaccine, but to continue growing capacity as well," he said.

"It has been a tough year and we still have several tough months ahead, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we will make it there if we all do our part to slow the spread," he added.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 37,411 coronavirus deaths in New York state, the worst in the country.