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Watch Now: Governor Cuomo Gives Coronavirus Update Virus Toll in N.Y. Shows Signs of Leveling Off: Live Updates
(32 minutes later)
Though nearly 600 people were reported dead of the coronavirus in New York on Monday, the state’s second-highest one-day death toll, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said there were continuing signs that the virus is starting to slow. Despite nearly 600 newly reported coronavirus deaths in New York on Monday, the state’s second-highest one-day death toll, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said there continued to be signs that the outbreak was starting to slow.
For days, officials in New York have been searching for indications that the coronavirus is hitting a peak in the state, which has experienced by far the worst outbreak in the country. For days, New York officials have sought indications that the virus was reaching a peak in the state, which has been the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic.
On Sunday, the one-day death toll dropped to 594, from 630 the day before. On Monday, it remained about the same as Sunday — 599, Mr. Cuomo said. On Sunday, the one-day death toll dropped to 594, from 630 the day before. On Monday, it was about the same as Sunday, 599, Mr. Cuomo said.
The daily increase in the number of patients who are hospitalized has slowed considerably, even as the raw number of patients who are hospitalized continues to grow each day. The daily increase in the number of patients being hospitalized has slowed considerably, even as the raw number of patients being hospitalized continues to grow every day.
Mr. Cuomo said that the data suggested that the spread of the virus in New York is nearing its apex, but emphasized that the state still faced an emergency. Mr. Cuomo said that the data suggested that the spread of the virus in New York was nearing its apex, but he emphasized that the state still faced an emergency.
“If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a very high level and there is tremendous stress on the health care system,” he said“If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a very high level and there is tremendous stress on the health care system,” he said
And he added that it remained extremely important that New Yorkers abide by rules on social distancing. He called behavior to the contrary “unacceptable,” and said that the nice weather over the weekend had goaded far too many people into lax behavior. And he added that it remained extremely important for New Yorkers to abide by rules on social distancing. He called the failure to do so “unacceptable,” and said that the nice weather over the weekend had goaded far too many people into lax behavior.
“Now is not the time to slack off on what we’re doing,” he said.“Now is not the time to slack off on what we’re doing,” he said.
Here are the latest numbers from his daily briefing: Here were the latest numbers from the governor’s daily briefing:
Deaths in New York State: 4,758, up by 599 from 4,159 on Sunday morning. Deaths in New York State: 4,758, up 599 from 4,159 on Sunday morning.
Confirmed cases: 130,689, up from 122,031. In New York City, 72,181, up from 67,551.Confirmed cases: 130,689, up from 122,031. In New York City, 72,181, up from 67,551.
Hospitalized in New York State: 16,837, up by 2 percent from 16,479 on Sunday. This was the third straight day of single-digit percentage growth, after a long period when hospitalizations were growing by 20 or 30 percent per day. Hospitalized in New York State: 16,837, up 2 percent from 16,479 on Sunday. It was the third straight day of single-digit percentage growth, after a long period when hospitalizations were growing 20 to 30 percent a day.
In intensive care: 4,504, up by 2 percent from 4,376 on Sunday. The day-over-day increase, 128, was the smallest in at least two weeks. Last week, the number of people in intensive care beds, which have ventilators, was growing by more than 300 people per day, driving projections that the state would soon run out of ventilators. In intensive care: 4,504, up 2 percent from 4,376 on Sunday. The day-over-day increase, 128, was the smallest in at least two weeks. Last week, the number of people in intensive care beds, which have ventilators, was growing more than 300 people a day, driving projections that the state would soon run out of ventilators.
Even if the curve of infection is slowing, the virus’s daily toll remains horrific. Even if the curve of infection is flattening, the virus’s daily toll remains horrific.
New York City reported a one-day total of 219 deaths on Monday morning, bringing the city’s death toll to 2,475. Before the virus outbreak, the average death rate in New York City was 158 people per day, so considerably more people in the city are now dying of the virus than of all other causes combined. New York City reported a one-day total of 219 deaths on Monday morning, bringing the city’s death toll to 2,475. Before the virus outbreak, the average death rate in New York City was 158 people a day, meaning the virus is now killing considerably more people in the city than all other causes combined.
Mr. Cuomo asserted that New York had done all it could to prevent the loss of lives that could have been saved: “Have we saved everyone? No. But have we lost anyone because we didn’t have a bed or we didn’t have a ventilator, or we didn’t have health care staff? No.” Mr. Cuomo asserted that New York had done all it could to prevent the loss of lives that could have been saved.
Mr. Cuomo said that New York had been proactive in shifting lifesaving ventilators to where they were needed, and that it had moved “thousands and thousands of ventilators” throughout its health care system. “Have we saved everyone?” he said. “No. But have we lost anyone because we didn’t have a bed or we didn’t have a ventilator, or we didn’t have health care staff? No.”
And in a notable shift from previous weeks, throughout which he has pleaded for more ventilators from the federal government and other states, he said that New York currently had enough. Mr. Cuomo said that New York had actively transferred lifesaving ventilators to where they were needed, and that the state had moved “thousands and thousands of ventilators” throughout its health care system.
And in a notable shift from previous weeks, when he has pleaded for more ventilators from the federal government and other states, he said New York was now adequately stocked.
“We don’t need any additional ventilators right now,” he said.“We don’t need any additional ventilators right now,” he said.
With the number of people dying of the coronavirus in New York City outpacing the system’s capacity to handle them, the city is considering temporarily burying people in mass graves in a park, the chairman of the City Council’s health committee, said on Monday. With the number of city residents dying of the virus outpacing the system’s capacity to handle them, officials are considering temporarily burying people in mass graves in a park, the chairman of the City Council’s health committee, said on Monday.
“It will be done in a dignified, orderly — and temporary — manner,” the chairman, City Councilman Mark Levine, wrote on Twitter. “But it will be tough for NYers to take.”“It will be done in a dignified, orderly — and temporary — manner,” the chairman, City Councilman Mark Levine, wrote on Twitter. “But it will be tough for NYers to take.”
Mr. Levine said “temporary interment” could “avoid scenes like those in Italy, where the military was forced to collect bodies from churches and even off the streets.”Mr. Levine said “temporary interment” could “avoid scenes like those in Italy, where the military was forced to collect bodies from churches and even off the streets.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said no such plan had been put in place.Mayor Bill de Blasio said no such plan had been put in place.
“If we need to do temporary burials to be able to tide us over to pass the crisis and then work with each family on their appropriate arrangements, we have the ability to do that,” he said when asked about Mr. Levine’s comment on Monday. “If we need to do temporary burials to be able to tide us over to pass the crisis and then work with each family on their appropriate arrangements, we have the ability to do that,” he said when asked about Mr. Levine’s comment later on Monday.
But he said the city was “not at the point that we’re going to go into that.”But he said the city was “not at the point that we’re going to go into that.”
Governor Cuomo said in his noon briefing that he had heard nothing about such a possibility. “I have heard a lot of wild rumors but I have not heard anything about the city burying people in parks,” Mr. Cuomo said. Governor Cuomo said at his noon briefing that he had heard nothing about such a possibility.
After his Twitter comments had panicked some New Yorkers and drawn comment from the mayor and the governor, Mr. Levine wrote on Twitter that what he had been describing was a contingency plan and that “if the death rate drops enough it will not be necessary.” “I have heard a lot of wild rumors but I have not heard anything about the city burying people in parks,” Mr. Cuomo said.
In an interview on Monday, Mr. Levine, who represents Upper Manhattan, declined to name the park or parks that were under consideration but said, “I presume it would have to be a large park with some inaccessible areas that are out of the way of the public.” After the mayor and governor weighed in — and after Mr. Levine’s comments caused a panic among some New Yorkers — the councilman wrote on Twitter that what he was describing was a contingency plan and that “if the death rate drops enough it will not be necessary.”
Temporary burials are part of a plan the city medical examiner’s office put together in 2008 to deal with a pandemic. “Tier One” of the plan involves storing bodies in freezer trucks and easing restrictions on crematories. The city is already doing that. In an interview, Mr. Levine, who represents Upper Manhattan, declined to identify which park or parks might be used, but he said, “I presume it would have to be a large park with some inaccessible areas that are out of the way of the public.”
Temporary burials are part of a 2008 plan prepared by the city medical examiner’s office to deal with a pandemic. “Tier One” of the plan involves storing bodies in freezer trucks and easing restrictions on crematories. The city is already doing that.
“We are relying on freezers now to hold bodies, but that capacity is almost entirely used up,” Mr. Levine said.“We are relying on freezers now to hold bodies, but that capacity is almost entirely used up,” Mr. Levine said.
In recent days, the virus has tripled the number of people dying in the city compared with an average day.In recent days, the virus has tripled the number of people dying in the city compared with an average day.
Temporary burials are described in Tier Two of the medical examiner’s plan.Temporary burials are described in Tier Two of the medical examiner’s plan.
Mr. Levine said the only possible sites for mass burials would be a city park or Hart Island off the Bronx, the Potter’s Field where prison labor is used to bury the dead.Mr. Levine said the only possible sites for mass burials would be a city park or Hart Island off the Bronx, the Potter’s Field where prison labor is used to bury the dead.
Hart Island has logistical challenges because it is inaccessible and it is a secure City Department of Correction facility, so there are limitations on who can go there and under what circumstances, Mr. Levin said, adding, “I think it would be preferable to have something that didn’t have the security issues of Hart Island.”Hart Island has logistical challenges because it is inaccessible and it is a secure City Department of Correction facility, so there are limitations on who can go there and under what circumstances, Mr. Levin said, adding, “I think it would be preferable to have something that didn’t have the security issues of Hart Island.”
With New York’s economic crippled by the coronavirus, a little more than half of all New Yorkers — and 58 percent of New York City residents — say they are concerned about being able to meet monthly financial obligations, according to a Siena College poll released Monday. “P-P-E.”
Forty-one percent of all survey respondents said they were concerned about being able to afford food. In New York City, that figure was 49 percent. “Every day.”
The survey also offered a glimpse into how many people say they are complying with calls to quarantine, self-isolate and social-distance, all efforts intended to reduce the spread of the virus. “And every day.”
Fourteen percent of people surveyed said they were under mandatory quarantine, and 42 percent said they were self-quarantining. Thirty-nine percent said they were not quarantining but were cutting back on going around and also social distancing. In New York City, that number was slightly lower: 35 percent. “P-P-E.”
Only 4 percent of survey respondents said they were going about life as usual. The poll was conducted March 30 through April 2. That was the call-and-response outside Harlem Hospital Center on Monday, as dozens of nurses protested to demand more personal protective equipment.
Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute said the results showed a silver lining: About three-quarters of respondents said they were grateful for having time with those closest to them, and that they enjoy “the small things even more now.” On the sidewalk out the hopital, the names of health care workers who died after treating coronavirus patients were written in brightly colored chalk.
Nadia, a four-year-old Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo, has been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus, in what is believed to be a case of what one official called “human-to-cat transmission.” The Manhattan hospital has been inundated with virus patients, including some who were transferred from hospitals in Queens and the Bronx.
“This is the first instance of a tiger being infected with Covid-19,” the federal Agriculture Department said. Although only Nadia was tested, the virus appeared to have infected other animals as well. But the hospital staff has been stretched thin and critical workers have been provided with little protective equipment, nurses say. The hospital has only a small number of respiratory therapists, and the staff receive one N95 mask to wear through five 12-hours shifts, said Sarah Dowd, a staff nurse who helped organize the protest.
“Several lions and tigers at the zoo showed symptoms of respiratory illness,” the department said in a statement. “We deserve better,” she said, reciting a list of demands that includes at least one mask a day for hospital workers, and more nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists.
They include Nadia’s sister, Azul, who was born with her at the zoo in 2016. The Harlem nurses were joined by counterparts from other public and private hospitals in the city. The protesters held signs that read, “Patients before Profits” and “Who Will Care for You When We Are Dead?”
Public health officials believe that the tigers caught Covid-19 from a zoo employee. Nadia appeared visibly sick by March 27. Foluke Fashakin, a nurse who was at Harlem Hospital, said that nurses were wearing the same equipment to treat those who were infected and those who were not.
New York City received 600,000 N95 masks from the federal government, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday, thanking President Trump and Jared Kushner and saying that the city had a “sufficiently secure” supply of the masks for the week. “We are not comfortable with this kind of system,” she said.
“This has definitely changed the dynamic for us this week and that’s a very good thing,” the mayor said. Some nurses, concerned about contracting the virus and spreading it to relatives and patients, have used their own money to buy supplies.
The previous day, the mayor had said that the city was in dire need of medical supplies and only had enough to get through the middle of the week. Anna Pinkovska, said she spent $400 of her own on masks and gloves. Otherwise, she said, “we’re going to spread it to the patients, and it’s going to be a vicious cycle and you’re never going to control it.”
The city had 135 ventilators in reserve and needs 1,000 to 1,500 more to get through the week, Mr. de Blasio said on Sunday. On Monday, he reiterated that fact, adding that other medical supplies, such as surgical gowns, were also necessary.
“We continue to focus this week on finding more surgical gowns and of course, on ventilators, to get us through,” he said.
The mayor also repeated that 291 military medical personnel had arrived on Sunday to work in the city’s public hospitals, but that the city still needed more aid.
Mr. de Blasio repeated on Monday that he had asked for 1,450 military medical personnel, and said that he would be speaking to the president about the need for more.
All dog parks and dog runs in New York City were shut down on Monday for the foreseeable future, the city parks department said, after it received complaints about people not maintaining social distancing at them.All dog parks and dog runs in New York City were shut down on Monday for the foreseeable future, the city parks department said, after it received complaints about people not maintaining social distancing at them.
There are dozens of dog runs throughout the city, where dogs are allowed to play with other dogs off leash. Dogs will be still allowed inside parks, but they must be leashed, the department said.There are dozens of dog runs throughout the city, where dogs are allowed to play with other dogs off leash. Dogs will be still allowed inside parks, but they must be leashed, the department said.
In addition, park officials said that all public tennis courts, handball courts and basketball courts outside playgrounds would be closed. To further discourage their use, tennis nets and basketball rims will be removed later this week.In addition, park officials said that all public tennis courts, handball courts and basketball courts outside playgrounds would be closed. To further discourage their use, tennis nets and basketball rims will be removed later this week.
As The New York Times follows the spread of the coronavirus across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, we need your help. We want to talk to doctors, nurses, lab technicians, respiratory therapists, emergency services workers, nursing home managers — anyone who can share what is happening in the region’s hospitals and other health care centers. Even if you haven’t seen anything yet, we want to connect now so we can stay in touch in the future.As The New York Times follows the spread of the coronavirus across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, we need your help. We want to talk to doctors, nurses, lab technicians, respiratory therapists, emergency services workers, nursing home managers — anyone who can share what is happening in the region’s hospitals and other health care centers. Even if you haven’t seen anything yet, we want to connect now so we can stay in touch in the future.
A reporter or editor may contact you. Your information will not be published without your consent.A reporter or editor may contact you. Your information will not be published without your consent.
Reporting was contributed by Jonah Engel Bromwich, Annie Correal, Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, Joseph Goldstein, Matthew Haag, Andy Newman, Azi Paybarah, Liam Stack and Katie Van Syckle. Reporting was contributed by Jonah Engel Bromwich, Annie Correal, Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, Joseph Goldstein, Matthew Haag, Andy Newman, Liam Stack and Katie Van Syckle.