New York: A somber and weary Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday told New Yorkers to brace for weeks of bad news as coronavirus cases and deaths shot up by record numbers in the state, a global hotspot.
As fatalities across the United States climbed past 3,600, eclipsing China’s toll, the latest victims on Long Island included the eighth resident of a skilled nursing facility in Greenport and a worker at a hospital in Smithtown where at least six nurses are also stricken.
The foreboding message from the governor came as he disclosed that the virus has hit close to home — his brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, has it.
He warned that there will be no miraculous turn when the crisis will suddenly resolve or fall into a sharp downswing.
“This is not one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, six weeks,” he said at his daily press briefing in Albany. “This is not going to be an Easter surprise.”
The number of New Yorkers diagnosed with coronavirus since Monday shot up by more than 9,000 new cases, Cuomo said, the biggest one-day increase yet. The state’s total of 75,795 confirmed cases puts it ahead of Germany and has it closing in on China, where the outbreak began.
Deaths linked to the COVID-19 virus jumped by 332 from Monday, another one-day high, for a total of 1,550, state figures showed.
Nassau County reported 15 new deaths for a total of 63. Nassau also said 80 police officers have the virus, and 174 are quarantined, though 20 who had the virus have returned to work.
“These next few weeks will be very challenging and that’s something we have to be clear-eyed about,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said. “Very challenging for our economy, for our society, for our families — most immediately for our health care system and our health care workers.”
