Coronavirus kills another 630 New Yorkers in last 24 hours
Another 630 New Yorkers died from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, despite a decline in hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions statewide, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.
“The number of deaths, unfortunately, refuses to come down dramatically,” Cuomo said during his daily Albany press briefing. “That is still breathtaking in its pain and grief and tragedy.”
Of those deaths, 590 people died at hospitals statewide, while 40 died at nursing homes, the governor said.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed infections in the state climbed by 7,358, putting the total caseload tally at 229,642, according to state data, which showed that New York City’s number of confirmed coronavirus cases grew to 127,352.
In New York, a total of 573,223 people have been tested for COVID-19, while 31,987 coronavirus patients have been discharged from state hospitals.
The rate of total hospitalizations for COVID-19 “ticked down” by 419, bringing the statewide total to 17,316, said Cuomo, adding, “That is good news.”
Total ICU admissions were also on the decline by 32, putting the new total at 5,039, while the number of intubations was also down by 73, bringing that figure to 4,294, according to the data.
However, Cuomo noted that the number of new COVID-19 hospital patients remained flat at roughly 2,000 per day.
“That is still very high,” the governor said. “So yes, there are fewer people in the hospitals, fewer people being intubated, but there’s still 2,000 people walking in the door.”
That number, Cuomo explained, “has hovered at the same rate for several weeks … that’s a very high number.”
The governor pointed back to comments he has repeatedly made, saying that the “final conclusion of this ugly chapter, I still believe, is when we have a vaccine,” in 12 to 18 months’ time.