New York state’s coronavirus death toll surpasses 16,000

New York state’s coronavirus death toll has surpassed the 16,000 mark with another 422 deaths as a result of the contagion in a 24-hour period, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.

“Still heartbreaking news,” Cuomo said during his daily Albany press briefing as he reported the new fatalities — 24 of them in nursing homes — from the virus, bringing the total amount of COVID-19 deaths in the state to 16,162.

“This is at an unimaginable level,” the governor said of the deaths. “And it’s dropping somewhat, but it’s still devastating news.”

Cuomo also announced that statewide hospitalizations for coronavirus remain down, as well as the number of intubations.

“All evidence suggests we’re on the downside of the curve,” Cuomo said.

However, the governor said, there were still 1,296 new hospitalizations reported Thursday, which Cuomo called “troubling” since that number has remained relatively flat.