More than 20 million COVID-19 test kits are being stockpiled ahead of the next school year and New York state officials are monitoring wastewater to determine if there are any spikes in COVID-19 cases throughout the state — a sort of early warning system that could provide clues to whether an increase in the virus is circulating in the population. 

For now, Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday, so far so good. 

"We're not seeing that," she said during a stop in Yonkers of a potential COVID-19 spike. "I want to be very clear. We're not seeing that right now." 

About 70% of the state can be monitored through wastewater tests, Hochul said. 

"Using technology, we'll have an early warning before an problems spike," she said. 

New York and most of the rest of the country has seen a sharp decline in COVID-19 cases over the last several weeks following the wintertime surge brought on by the omicron variant of the virus. New York's positive rate stands at 1.7% in the last day and about 1,000 patients remain in the hospital who are COVID-19 positive. 

The decline in cases has allowed New York to ease rules such as mask wearing in most public spaces as well as inside schools. 

But New York officials are also monitoring spiking cases in Europe — the so-called "global trends" Hochul has said will determine whether pandemic-related restrictions should be imposed in the state. 

"We're watching and staying alert in what's happening in the United Kingdom," she said. "We tend to be a few weeks behind those trends. We do have surveillance techniques."

The state is stockpiling the test kits for schools ahead of next September when kids and teachers return to classrooms. Mass access to testing has been seen as a key tool in keeping businesses and schools open.