The State Department of Health and Human Services announced that testing facilities using COVID-19 rapid antigen tests no longer need to report negative results.
In this case, only lab-reported PCR tests will be utilized along with positive antigen tests as reporting data.
The DOHS also said the most reliable metric to keep tabs on virus activity in communities is the case per 100,000 data but not the percent of positive cases.
The cases per 100,000 in Central New York as of Tuesday was 53.7, which was the highest in the state followed by the Mohawk Valley at 38.36% and the Southern Tier at 35.86%.