Coronavirus Update: Cuomo Says Non-Essential Workers Must Stay Home Until At Least April 15
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday local health providers need to be prepared for a "rolling apex" of coronavirus cases.
Current projections show New York City will hit the height of its coronavirus cases first, followed by Long Island and Westchester, and then upstate. Currently there are 59,513 cases in New York state, including 33,761 in New York City.
"So if you're not in a highly affected health area now, that doesn't mean you're not going to have a real situation to deal with because these numbers are just going to go up across the state," Cuomo said.
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Cuomo said the "artificial wall" between public and private hospital systems "has to come down. This is all hands on deck."
Cuomo pointed to Elmhurst Hospital, saying it was already under stress, and that he was going to ask Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Comptroller Scott Stringer as to how to the city's public hospitals better work together.
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Cuomo extended the directive that non-essential workers stay home - the New York PAUSE program - through April 15.
He acknowledged that would impact Easter and Passover celebrations.
Watch: Gov. Andrew Cuomo Gives Coronavirus Update
"It's hard. It's hard. But on the flip side, I say look at what happened in New Rochelle. Those gatherings that brought people together were religious gatherings and brought hundreds of people together, which was beautiful. But it made many, many people ill. And density is the enemy here," Cuomo said. "You worship, worship the way you can, but the gatherings are just not a good idea."
Cuomo said the "patient zero" in New Rochelle who was very sick for a long time is now out of the hospital.
There are now 59,513 total cases in New York, up more than 7,000 from Saturday. There 8,503 people currently hospitalized and 2,037 ICU patients, and 3,572 patients have been treated and released thus far. More than 800 people were discharged on Saturday alone, Cuomo said.
There have now been 965 deaths in New York related to Covid-19.
Cuomo said he expected the number of fatalities will increase dramatically.
"I don't see how you look at those numbers and conclude anything less than thousands of people will pass away," Cuomo said.
Cuomo said the number of new cases is now doubling every six days, which is a slower pace of growth than previously.
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Cuomo spoke about the CDC's travel advisory regarding the Tri-State Area.
"This is not a lockdown. It is a travel advisory to be implemented by the states, in essence. It's nothing that we haven't been doing, right? Non-essential people should stay home. So it's totally consistent with everything we're doing, and I support what the president did, because it affirms what we've been doing. It also affirms what New Jersey and Connecticut have been doing," Cuomo said.
Cuomo said that Rhode Island has repealed an executive order calling for stopping people driving vehicles with New York plates.