New York, Oct 16 (IANS): The Covid-19 test positivity rate in New York state's "Red Zone" focus areas, where the outbreak has been the most severe, has fallen below 5 per cent, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

The test positivity rate in the "Red Zone" focus areas was 4.84 per cent on Wednesday, compared with 6.2 per cent on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency quoted Cuomo as saying on Thursday.

Tuesday was the first time in days that the rate had surpassed 6 per cent.

It used to hover around 5 per cent, according to official figures.

The state-wide positivity rate excluding "Red Zones" was 0.99 per cent on Wednesday, up from 0.95 per cent a day earlier, according to the Governor.

Once the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, New York state has reported more than 4484,000 Covid-19 cases, of which New York City accounted for over 257,000.

The death toll in the state stood at 32,935.

As of Friday, the US continued as the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 7,977,097 and 217,754, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University.