New York, Oct 12 (IANS): New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that the state's latest Covid-19 test positivity rates have remained more or less the same as the level in the past few days.

The rate in the "Red Zone" focus areas, where the pandemic has been the most severe, was 5.7 per cent, and the state-wide positivity rate excluding these areas was 0.84 per cent on Saturday, the Governor tweeted on Sunday.

"We are taking strong action to respond to these outbreaks and to stop the spread. Mask up," Xinhua news agency quoted Cuomo as further saying.

The "Red Zone" Covid-19 test positivity rate has hovered mostly above 5 per cent for days, while the state=wide positivity rate excluding these areas stood below 1 per cent, according to the official figures.

Under state and city orders, non-essential businesses, schools and social gatherings have been shut down in these focus areas this week for at least 14 days in order to help contain the virus.

In a tweet on Sunday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said: "We've come too far to let Covid-19 make a resurgence. Help us fight back against the clusters we've seen in Brooklyn and Queens."

Once the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, New York state has reported more than 479,000 Covid-19 cases, of which New York City accounted for over 255,000.

The death toll in the state stood at 32,879.

As of Monday, the US continued as the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 7,761,637 and 214,767, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University.