NEW YORK - New York City's COVID-19 test positivity rate on a seven-day average topped 9 percent, reaching 9.41 percent, compared with 8.87 percent one day earlier, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Friday.

The rate was announced to top 8 percent on Dec. 31 and 7 percent on Dec. 27. It topped 3 percent late November, which was believed by the city government to signify the arrival of a second wave of the coronavirus, and has remained above the level ever since.

Meanwhile, the mayor said on Friday that there were 219 new hospitalizations and 3,419 new cases of the coronavirus in the city, adding that "2021 is here and it will be a better year for our city -- but we have to keep up the fight against #COVID19."

On Thursday, New Yorkers stuck to the century-old tradition of celebrating New Year in Times Square with live performance but no massive live audience.

"Happy New Year, New York City! As a city, as a community, we have been through so much this year," the mayor tweeted in regard with the celebration.

"We showed our resolve and proved New York City will come back stronger than ever," he added.

Also on Thursday, de Blasio announced that March 14 will be COVID-19 Remembrance Day in New York City. The city reported its first coronavirus fatality on March 14, 2020, and the event will recognize all those who died from the virus.

"It will be a moment to reflect, but it will also be a moment to look forward and use the lessons we've learned to build a better city," he said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the coronavirus deaths added up to 25,144 and confirmed cases to 426,060 in NYC, according to The City, a project that tracks the spread of confirmed COVID-19 infections and fatalities in New York City, based on information provided by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the governor's office, The COVID Tracking Project and the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.