For three years, the New York governor's office would compile and release daily updates on COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and, later on, vaccinations. 

That reporting is set to be scaled back this month and state health officials will also assess how COVID data is collected from local officials, Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said. 

COVID data was closely watched for much of the pandemic, but a major spike in cases has not occurred in more than a year after the onset of the highly contagious omicron variant.

The data reporting is one of several changes New York is making as federal emergency rules are set to lapse May 11. On Friday, the state Department of Health announced visitors at nursing homes would no longer be required to show proof of a negative COVID test to gain entry.

Public health officials are still urging New Yorkers to take precautions, including monitoring symptoms and personal hygiene as well as staying up-to-date with vaccines.

COVID data will also still be available on the state Department of Health's website. A news release that was sent out five days a week will now be scaled back to weekly on Fridays.

Hochul's office also announced the Department of Health is considering changes to how COVID information is collected from local health officials and health care providers "in order to alleviate the burden on providers and leverage other data sources to maintain its ability to monitor the state of the disease and health care delivery system capacity," according to the governor's office.

"Every New Yorker must remain vigilant and continue to use all available tools to keep themselves, their loved ones and their communities safe and healthy," Hochul said. "Stay up to date on vaccine doses and be sure to test before gatherings or travel. If you test positive, talk to your doctor about potential treatment options."

After taking office in 2021, Hochul made some tweaks to how data is presented, including fatalities due to COVID as well as breaking out hospitalizations of patients due to COVID versus COVID cases of people who test positive upon admission.

Hochul's office on Friday reported 1,340 people are hospitalized with COVID in New York. All told in the three years since Gov. Andrew Cuomo on March 20, 2020, approved an "on pause" order closing public gathering places and businesses, more than 62,000 New Yorkers have died of COVID.

As mass testing of COVID subsided and at-home test kits became more prevalent, state officials emphasized cases per 100,000 people as a more reliable metric for determining rates of spread.

New York also made gains in how it monitors diseases circulating in communities, including the testing of wastewater across the state.