New York crosses 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths as other indicators flatten

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday reported that more than 10,000 people in his state have now died from the coronavirus, while saying other COVID-19 indicators such as hospitalizations and the number of intubations are showing signs of flattening.

The governor said 10,056 people have now died from the coronavirus after there were 671 new deaths, which was lower than the increases from the previous few days.

“To have this happen over this weekend is really, really especially tragic,” Mr. Cuomo said at his daily briefing on the COVID-19 outbreak in his state.

But he said there is definitely a “flattening” in metrics such as total hospitalizations, new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and new COVID-19-related hospitalizations per day.

“I think you can say the worst is over, because the worst here are people dying,” Mr. Cuomo said. “I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart.”

He said improving metrics are a direct result of the public’s abiding social distancing rules and other virus-related restrictions.

“I’m not confident that the worst is over,” he said. “The worst can be over and it is over unless we do something reckless, and you can turn those numbers on two or three days of reckless behavior.”

There are now more than 195,000 coronavirus cases in the state, home to nearly 20 million people. The infections and coronavirus-related deaths are both the most out of any other state in the country.

“Take a deep breath — you still have 2,000 people per day coming who are coming into the hospital system,” Mr. Cuomo said.

Mr. Cuomo said the eventual reopening of businesses in the state has to be done intelligently and in concert with additional testing.

“So yes, open the valve slowly … keep your eye on the meter,” he said. “If you see that infection rate start ticking up … then you know you’ve opened the valve too fast.”

He said he was planning to talk with governors in the region about a joint reopening plan.