The governor of New York Andrew Cuomo stated on Friday that the number of coronavirus or COVID-19 who are in intensive care units across the state has taken a fall in the last day, which offer a glimmer of hope that the rise in critical care hospitalizations may be levelling off.
Cuomo mentioned that there were 17 fewer patients in the intensive care units of the state on Thursday than a day prior. This is the first time a group of patients has witnessed a decrease in the day since the outbreak that took hold and a sign that social distancing measures are working.
New York has recorded 7,844 deaths from COVID-19
New York, the epicentre of the outbreak in the United States, has recorded 7,844 deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, nearly half of the total across the United States.
"What we do will affect, literally, life and death for hundreds of people," Cuomo said during a media briefing, adding state officials were "cautiously optimistic" because of the lowering of some hospitalization trends. "Keep doing what we're doing. Stay home because that works. We are flattening the curve," he said.
New York has tested some 390,000 people for the coronavirus
There were 290 new hospital admissions in a day, above the 200 admitted a day earlier but far less than just over a week ago when more than 1,400 New Yorkers were hospitalized for the coronavirus in a day, Cuomo said. The number of deaths in New York per day from coronavirus continues to hover in the high 700s, with 777 deaths recorded in the last day compared to 799 a day prior.
While New York has tested some 390,000 people for the coronavirus, more than any other state, Cuomo said the limited availability of testing could delay the reopening of businesses and travel. The federal government should use the Defense Production Act to increase US testing capabilities, he said, adding New York, Connecticut and New Jersey would join any effort to get testing "up to scale."
"We need an unprecedented mobilization where the government can produce these tests in the millions," Cuomo said.
(With agency inputs)
