‘A lot of pain.’ NY has biggest 1-day jump in virus deaths: 731 lives, and the virus is still spreading…

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state reported 731 new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, its biggest jump since the start of the outbreak, dampening some of the cautious optimism officials have expressed about efforts to stop the spread of the virus. The state’s death toll grew to 5,489. The alarming surge in deaths comes as new hospital admissions have dropped on average over several days, a possible harbinger of the outbreak finally leveling off. Cuomo said the death tally is a “lagging indicator” that reflects the loss of critically ill people hospitalized earlier.

“That’s 731 people who we lost. Behind every one of those numbers is an individual. There’s a family, there’s a mother, there’s a father, there’s a sister, there’s a brother. So, a lot of pain again today for many New Yorkers,” Cuomo said at a briefing at the state Capitol. The state has been recording more than 500 deaths a day since late last week. The number of confirmed cases — which does not include infected people who have not been tested — is close to 139,000 statewide.

 

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While Cuomo said New York could be reaching a “plateau” in hospitalizations, he warned that gains are dependent on people continuing to practice social distancing. “This is a projection,” he said. “It still depends on what we do, and what we do will affect those numbers.” Here are other coronavirus developments in New York: More people have died from the coronavirus in New York City than perished in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. At least 4,000 people have been killed in the city by the virus, according to a new count released by state health officials.  –AP