New York State (NYS) has emerged as the national epicenter of the United State’s COVID-19 epidemic. This report details the extent of testing and test results during the month of March in NYS, along with risk factors, outcomes, and household prevalence among initial cases subject to in-depth investigations.

Major findings include:

• In NYS, outside of New York City, a total of 47,326 persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in March, out of 141,495 tests (33% test-positive)
• the highest number of cases were located in the metropolitan region counties
• Among 229 initial cases diagnosed through March 12, by March 30 13% were hospitalized and 2% died
• Among the 229 initial cases, the median age was 43 years (IQR: 24-56 years; range: 1-96 years); 56% were male
• 16% were healthcare workers
• 30% of cases had comorbidities including hypertension (39%),diabetes (29%), and asthma (23%)
• 76% reported symptoms of cough, fever, or shortness of breath
• Testing conducted among 498 members of these case’s households found prevalent infection among 57%; excluding first-reported cases 38%.
• In these homes, there was a significant age gradient in prevalence, from 23% among those <5 years to 68% among those ≥65 years (p<.0001)