Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state of New York may have made it past its peak in the number of deaths caused by Covid-19, as fatality figures fell for a second straight day across the state.
Cuomo revealed on Sunday that 507 people had died on Saturday from the disease, down 43 from the previous day. The overall number of hospitalizations also continued its slow drop, declining from midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday from 16,967 to 16,213. Intubations and admissions to intensive care units also continued its downward trajectory.
According to the governor, when people look at the last three days, "you could argue that we are past the plateau and we are starting to descend which would be good news."
However, he said that on Friday about 2,000 infected people were taken to hospitals, which Cuomo described as "still an overwhelming" figure, and reiterated that he would take a cautious approach to reopening schools and businesses.
Cuomo reiterated an appeal to the government to help arrange and finance the mass testing he and other governors said is required to decide when it is safe for people to return to work.
Based on data from Johns Hopkins University, the total number of cases of coronavirus in the US currently stands at 755,533. Over 40,000 people in the U.S. have now died from the disease, about 25 percent of all coronavirus fatalities across the world, JHU data shows.
New York, the ground zero of the pandemic in the U.S., reports over 500 deaths a day. In a media briefing, US President Donald Trump said his administration is trying to help the rural hospitals that have been badly affected.
He also said that he would use the Defense Production Act to boost swab development in one facility despite a shortage of coronavirus testing.
For weeks, several governors have urged the White House to further invoke federal powers to increase the production of medical supplies by the private sector as health officials are trying to slow down the spread of the virus. In general, Trump was hesitant to do so.
But during a briefing on Sunday evening, the president said he will use the measure to boost swabs output and that he would soon declare that output to reach 10 million a month.
New York has been battered the most in ongoing health crisis in the country, with more than 226,000 infections and at least 13,000 deaths so far. Cuomo cautioned that the battle is far from over while emerging daily figures show some relief. "This is no time to get cocky and arrogant," he said.
