NEW YORK (AP) — New York state’s coronavirus death toll is nearing 1,000. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. The state accounts for more than 40% of coronavirus deaths in the U.S.
The number of disease-related deaths in the state jumped Sunday to 965 from 728 the day before, Cuomo said. The vast majority have been in New York City. Figures released Sunday morning showed 678 coronavirus deaths in the city, which continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.
Meanwhile, new data is showing which parts of the city are being hit the hardest by disease and that nearly a quarter of the people who’ve died of coronavirus in the state were nursing home residents.
Here are the latest coronavirus developments in New York:
SOME ENCOURAGING NUMBERS
The number of patients being discharged at the state’s hospitals after they’ve been treated for coronavirus has increased daily to a high of 845 on Saturday, Cuomo said. In all, more than 3,500 people have been discharged.
As of Sunday, more than 8,500 people remain hospitalized across the state because of the disease, including more than 2,000 in intensive care. In New York City, about 20% of coronavirus cases have led to hospitalizations.
Those totals are continuing to spike, but Cuomo said they’re not multiplying nearly as quickly as they were last week. From March 16-19, the number of hospitalizations in the state doubled every two days. Now it’s taking about six days for the number to double.
TRAVEL ADVISORY CONCERNS
On Saturday, after saying he was weighing the idea of a mandatory quarantine for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, President Donald Trump tweeted that instead he’d issue advisory urging people in those states to avoid any nonessential travel for two weeks.
New York City Mayor Bill de De Blasio said he worried about the advisory’s impact on families with members in New York and other places who were looking to reunite.
“We’ve got to respect, in the middle of a crisis, families have a right to be together,” de Blasio said.
All 50 U.S. states have reported some cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, but New York state has the most, with over 52,000 positive tests for the illness and more than 700 deaths. About 7,300 people were in New York hospitals Saturday, including about 1,800 in intensive care.
NURSING HOME DEATHS
Through Friday, 24% of coronavirus deaths in New York state were among nursing home residents, according to the state Department of Health figures released to The Associated Press.
The state said there were more than 740 confirmed COVID-19 positive cases in licensed nursing homes at 129 of the state’s 613 nursing homes, which serve more than 100,000 residents.
As of Friday, 122 nursing home residents in the state have died of the disease. In less than two weeks, the virus has claimed seven lives at one Long Island retirement community, with the latest death coming Saturday.
