New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday said the city was having a "very good day" as the rate of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continues to fall.

But de Blasio hammered away at the need for city residents to maintain virus mitigation efforts, saying New York needed to see further progress in minimizing the number of infected people.

The number of new coronavirus hospitalizations and the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in New York City have dropped, de Blasio said at a press conference. The total number of patients in intensive care has also fallen in recent days, he said.

There were 835 ICU admissions in NYC Health + Hospitals on Saturday, compared with 857 ICU admissions the day before.

There were 383 new hospitalizations on Saturday, down from 463 new admissions on Friday, he said.

Pointing to the decrease in the hospitalization rate, de Blasio said, "That's a really meaningful improvement. That's a step in the right direction."

The percentage of people testing positive for the virus in the city remains high, at 58.1%, but that fell from 59.2% on Friday, he said.

"This is a very good day," the mayor said.