82-Year-Old NYC Woman Becomes New York’s First COVID-19 Death
An 82-year-old New York City woman became the state's first COVID-19-related death, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday. The woman had emphysema, a pre-existing condition that complicated her diagnosis. The Center for Disease Control advises that the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions are most at risk for serious health complications or death from the novel coronavirus.
The New York Times reports the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York is 524, according to a statement Cuomo gave the newspaper on Saturday following the announcement of the New York City woman's death.
As of Friday, the number of cases in the Hudson Valley included five in Ulster County, three in Dutchess County and three in Orange County. Sullivan County joined Ulster and Dutchess counties on Friday in declaring a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus on Friday. While Dutchess and Ulster had mandated two weeks of school closures and Orange recommended two-week closures, Sullivan County has not elected to close schools.
The state of emergency declaration allows counties to activate their emergency operations centers and reduce hours of operation and access to non-emergency county services.