Governor Andrew Cuomo reported that COVID-19 claimed 671 New Yorkers during Easter, bring the state’s total death toll to more than 10,000, double to that of Iran’s total and almost triple China’s.
In his daily press briefing in Albany, Cuomo said that the state’s death toll reaching the five-digit threshold hit him hard on a personal level.
“I’m Catholic. Easter Sunday is the high holiday … To have this happen over this weekend is really, really especially tragic,” he said.
However, Cuomo points out that the state is showing signs that the curve is definitely flattening.
He said that the number of daily hospitalizations remained around 2,000, with hospitalizations remaining at about 18,000 patients.
“We have controlled the spread,” he declared, “That’s definitely a flattening. That is good news.”
“The worst can be over and it is over, unless we do something reckless,” he added, stressing the importance of continuing to observe social distancing and stay-at-home measures to help fight back against the disease.
While the governor labeled the recent deaths “terrible” and “painful”, this is also the first time the daily toll fell below 700.
New York currently has 195,000 coronavirus cases, which is more than any country around the globe apart from the United States.
Cuomo also stated that he wants to reopen the state as much as possible, but is looking the possibility of managing a “delicate balance” to avoid the virus to come back.
He said, “Yes, open the valve, slowly, advised by experts, keep your eye on the meter … the meter is the infection rate … and if you see that infection rate ticking up … then you know you’ve opened the valve too fast.”
“It’s not going to be we flick a switch, and everyone gets out of their house. What will happen is there will be points of resolution over time … and it will be incremental.”