New York May Have Turned Corner In Fight Against COVID-19
Despite three straight days of a record number of deaths due to COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo believes New York has turned a corner in the fight against the virus.
On Thursday, Cuomo announced 799 people died in New York during the past 24 hours. This marks the third straight day he reported the highest single-day death toll due to COVID-19 in the state. Over 7,000 New Yorkers have now died from the virus.
However, Cuomo believes because of social distancing the curve is flattening. He said the number of ventilators and beds needed as well as the projected number of ventilators and beds needed continues to go down because of social distancing.
"Our efforts to reduce the spread of the virus through social distancing are working better than we expected because people are complying with them," Cuomo said. "Rapid testing and increasing our testing capacity is going to be the bridge to the new economy and restarting, but we also need to make sure we are learning the lessons of what we're going through now because we haven't finished going through it yet."
Live Updates: Coronavirus in the Hudson Valley
In the past 24 hours, 200 more people were hospitalized in New York due to COVID-19 and 64 patients were placed into ICU, the lowest numbers yet, according to Cuomo. He says that's another sign that people are following social distancing guidelines and social distancing is working. But noted the numbers could change if we stop.
"If we stop acting the way we are acting those numbers will go up," Cuomo said.
Despite the good news, Cuomo warns the war with the virus is far from over. He reminded New Yorkers the Spanish Flu in 1918 hit in three waves. He said he understands the current "Groundhog Day reality" New Yorkers are currently living in, but says we still must follow social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders.
"We can’t assume that because we are seeing some positive signs this will be over soon or that additional waves won’t hit," Cuomo said. The moment you stop following the polices the numbers will shoot up. We are not prepared to handle the highest numbers in those projects. We made a mistake underestimating this virus."