Hospitalizations in New York have climbed to 1,059 cases due to the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced, as clusters of cases continue in the Southern Tier, Hudson Valley, and parts of New York City. 

The hospitalization total is the highest since June and the fourth day in a row the number of hospitalized patients was above 1,000 cases in New York. 

Still, New York's overall coronavirus positivity rate remains at about 1.4% out of more than 80,000 test results in the last day, Cuomo said. Twelve people were confirmed to have died of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.

"It is COVID whack-a-mole," Cuomo said of tackling the coronavirus cases in block-by-block efforts.

State and local health officials are taking the localized approach that could result in the closure of schools and some non-essential businesses in order to limit the spread, but avoid a region-wide or statewide closure like in March. 

Cuomo continued to hammer the federal government's response to the virus, blasting the Trump administration over the lack of a specific plan for distributing a potential COVID-19 vaccine. 

"This could easily be one year. You're talking about vaccinating 330 million people," Cuomo said. "It is a massive undertaking and the federal government is approaching it the same way they did testing and hospital surge."

Meanwhile, the state is also working with the luxury consignment company The Real Real on a New York-branded COVID-19 mask, with the profits going to charitable causes.