‘We Have Reached the Apex’: New York Governor

Medical staff arrive for their shift at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center during the CCP virus outbreak in New York City on April 13, 2020. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

New York has reached the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on April 14.

Officials have for days suggested that the peak had arrived but have held back from declaring so definitively.

The latest figures, showing a net decrease of 128 hospitalizations from April 13’s numbers and yet another drop in the three-day average of those hospitalized, proved enough for Cuomo to make the statement.

Looking at an average of three days is more accurate than any one day and helps officials clearly see whether the curve is going down, the governor said. The three-day average of net new hospitalizations was 14 on April 13.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks in Albany, New York, on April 14, 2020. (New York Governor's Office)

Hospitals are seeing fewer patients, continuing to discharge more patients than they admit, according to the figures.

The state hospitalized 1,649 new COVID-19 patients but discharged slightly more. More patients are being seen in areas outside New York City, but the number of patients in the upstate area is still low, compared to the city and nearby counties.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. It kills a small percentage of people and causes serious illness in about one out of five patients.

New York is the hardest-hit state in the nation and reported another 778 deaths on April 14, bringing its death toll close to 11,000. But the apex of the virus arrived with much lower numbers than the projections officials were relying upon, stoking widespread questioning of the models used.

Cuomo credited social distancing measures, despite such measures being explicitly included in most models.

People ride the subway in New York City on April 13, 2020. (Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo)

“What we have learned through this process is that our actions determine our destiny. We changed the curve. Every projection model ... had a higher rate of infection, higher rate of death,” he said.

The governor for weeks said officials would need as many as 40,000 ventilators and challenged President Donald Trump when the president questioned those figures. The number of ventilators needed was actually far lower. Cuomo’s office hasn’t answered repeated requests for how many ventilators the state ended up needing, and the governor has largely avoided questioning by reporters about the subject during his daily briefings in Albany.

Cuomo and Trump are embroiled in a clash over when and how to reopen parts of the country following the near-nationwide lockdowns. After Trump said he has total authority, the governor appeared on four different cable television programs on the morning of April 14 challenging the claim.

Cuomo backed off during the briefing, saying he only wanted to “correct” Trump but is not “spoiling for a fight.”

Cuomo spoke against “political division” and for “working together.” The governor has alternated between praising and criticizing Trump. The president has done the same with Cuomo.