ny New York antibody tests: 2.7 million possibly infected with coronavirus statewide About 3,000 people were checked at grocery stores and big box stores in 19 counties during the testing program, which began over the weekend. A total of 13.9% of the tests were positive, Cuomo said. The estimate on total potential infections comes from applying that percentage to New York’s full population, Cuomo said. It’s far higher than the 257,216 cases confirmed by testing for the virus itself. So far, about 15,700 New Yorkers have died due to the virus.