New York’s COVID-19 Hospitalizations Decline for 7th Straight Day

The number of patients hospitalized in New York due to the CCP virus dropped for the seventh straight day on April 19 as other metrics continue to suggest that the outbreak in the state is subsiding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on April 20.

Even as the number of daily deaths fell three days in a row, the toll remained painfully high in the state with 478 people dying from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus on April 19. Meanwhile, the number of patients on ventilators dropped for the eighth straight day.

“Worst news is the number of lives lost. That number is still horrifically high,” Cuomo said on April 20. “If you’re looking for the optimist’s view, it’s not as bad as it was, but 478 New Yorkers died yesterday from this terrible virus.”

Despite signs of improvement, New York remains the state hit hardest by the pandemic. Days earlier, Cuomo had ordered the extension of a statewide shutdown to May 15, even as other states announced plans to reopen.

Hospitals in New York reported a total of 16,103 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on April 19, down from nearly 19,000 at the peak of the curve a week ago.

New York began conducting an aggressive campaign to test people for antibodies associated with a prior COVID-19 infection. The testing will determine the percentage of the population now immune to the virus and may allow some people to return to work.

As statewide metrics continued to suggest that the outbreak is beginning to wane, the mayor of New York City—the epicenter of the nationwide outbreak—canceled all public events in June.

“It’s not a happy announcement, but it’s one we have to make,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference in the borough of Manhattan.

The city, which already abides by the statewide order, has additional local restrictions and measures in place, including a controversial call by the mayor for people to snap photos of fellow New Yorkers who violate the stay-at-home order.

While sounding a note of caution, Cuomo recently said the state appears to be past the so-called apex of the outbreak. The question is now how quickly the spread of the disease will decline.

“The question is now how long is the descent and how steep is the descent and nobody knows,” Cuomo said, referencing a visual representation of the scale of the outbreak.

Nearly 42,000 people have died from the CCP virus in the United States as of April 20, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Katabella Roberts and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.