New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday declared a state of emergency following a spike in the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.
Mr. Cuomo announced during an afternoon press conference that 21 new cases of the coronavirus have been reported across New York, bringing the state’s total to 76.
The confirmed coronavirus cases include 11 in New York City, 57 in Westchester County, two in Rockland County, four in Nassau County and two in Saratoga County, Mr. Cuomo said.
“I have officially … done a declaration of emergency, which gives us certain powers. We are going to be doing purchasing and hiring more staff, especially to help … local health departments that are very stressed,” said Mr. Cuomo, who estimated New York is currently spending roughly $30 million per week in costs related to combating the coronavirus.
“This is labor intensive. So we need the staffing, we need the purchasing,” said Mr. Cuomo. “Under the declaration of emergency, we have a more expedited purchasing and testing protocol, and we’re going to be doing that.”
The governor’s latest update came less than a week after having disclosed the first confirmed case of the potentially deadly coronavirus in New York last Sunday.
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Across the country, at least 352 people spanning 28 states have contracted the infectious respiratory disease, according to running tally maintained by The New York Times.
Internationally, the World Health Organization has reported more than 100,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus since it was first discovered in December in Wuhan, China.
Hundreds of people across New York have been tested for the coronavirus, and 10 of the 76 patients to test positive have been hospitalized, or around 15%, Mr. Cuomo said Saturday.
“We have now been testing around the clock,” said Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat. “We are aggressively testing, following up leads, because we want to find as many people who test positive so we can get them out of circulation.”
The likelihood of contracting the coronavirus is low for most New Yorkers, but individuals at greater risk should be especially cautious, he noted.
“If you are a senior citizen or immune-compromised, I would think seriously about attending a large gathering now,” warned Mr. Cuomo. “I’ve said that to my mother.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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