NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Of the 205,832 COVID-19 tests reported on Saturday in New York state, 9,702 were positive, or 4.71 percent of the total, down from 4.99 percent one day earlier, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday.

The rate surpassed 5 percent on Dec. 3 for the first time in months. It topped 4 percent on Nov. 28 for the first time since May and has remained above the level so far.

The COVID-19 test positivity rate in the focus areas under the state's micro-cluster strategy, where the outbreaks are targeted for their severity and potential of spread, was 6.22 percent on Saturday, up from 6.17 percent on Friday, said Cuomo.

The statewide positivity rate excluding these focus areas was 4.24 percent on Saturday, down from 4.59 percent one day earlier, said the governor.

Total hospitalizations were 4,442 on Saturday, up from 4,318 on Friday, added Cuomo, who had warned that the state's COVID-19 hospitalizations could reach 6,000 in weeks based on the current trends.

"We're closely monitoring hospital capacity and have implemented triggers to ensure hospitals have what they need," the governor was quoted as saying in an official release. "The light at the end of the tunnel is the vaccine, and one is coming, but until then we must be disciplined."

As of Sunday afternoon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 34,919 coronavirus deaths in New York state, the worst in the country.

Also on Sunday, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 705,827 in the state, according to the New York State Department of Health COVID-19 Tracker, which put the state's fatalities at 27,149, nearly 8,000 short of Johns Hopkins' figures.