NEW YORK, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- People have no choice but live through the so-called "COVID-19 fatigue" and be tough against the "tremendous stress" caused by the enduring pandemic, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his daily briefing on Wednesday.

"People talk about 'COVID-19 fatigue.' To that I said, you don't have the luxury of fatigue, because the virus isn't fatigued and until the battle is over, you can't take a nap," said the governor.

"I'm telling you we have a serious problem of the emotional stress and anxiety that COVID-19 has caused. And the longer it goes on, the worse it is getting. There is an emotional toll -- one day they will be talking about PTSD from COVID-19," he said.

"We're trying to increase services across the board, but it's just percolating. Today I would ask New Yorkers, just change the prioritization of who we think we are and move loving up to the top," he added.

The state reported major rises in COVID-19 test positivity rates for Tuesday, with the rate in the "Red Zone" focus areas rising to 6.61 percent, compared with 2.91 percent one day earlier.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 33,371 coronavirus deaths in New York State for the past seven months, the worst among all the states of the country.

"This is a terrible period. And just take that moment to show some love and then we do everything. We're smart, we're united, we're disciplined, we're tough," said Cuomo on Wednesday.