Hospitals have been the battle ground for COVID-19 as cases are slowly creeping up in the city.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced five strategies to combat the increased COVID-19 cases this winter as hospitalizations rise.

The governor made it clear Monday that if the numbers continue to increase it will create serious stress on our hospital system and force him to adjust state guidelines.

For weeks now, city and state officials have spoken about the increase in cases specifically in certain boroughs.

As of Monday, the Bronx positivity rate was behind Staten Island at 3.97%, while Brooklyn stands at 2.72%.

In recent weeks News 12 has also seen longer lines outside testing sites. CityMD offices have been overwhelmed with patients. At times people described waiting in line for more than two hours while others say they were turned away after a certain hour.

NYC Health + Hospitals is also experiencing longer wait times. The city has now released a dashboard where people will be able to get estimated wait times for COVID-19 testing sites.

If New York City continues to see cases and hospitalizations going up, the outcome could result in another pause.