New York’s Cuomo Sees Coronavirus Crisis Slowing Despite Record Daily Death Toll

New York state, the U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, is seeing some leveling out in the number of hospital patients, Governor 👤Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday, a hopeful sign even as deaths there and in neighboring New Jersey hit single-day highs.

While the United States experienced its deadliest single day since the crisis began, the U.S. surgeon general said the pandemic may kill fewer Americans than had been projected.

Authorities also provided data showing the pandemic having a disproportionate impact on African Americans.

New York state’s death toll rose by 731 to 5,489 over the past day, Cuomo said, though he called that a “lagging indicator” illustrating past trends. Deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, occur days or weeks after a person becomes infected.

After weeks of bleak developments, Cuomo said the state was “projecting that we are reaching a plateau in the total number of hospitalizations” due to the coronavirus, a possible sign of a leveling out in the spread of the virus.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said his state recorded 232 coronavirus deaths in the past day, bringing its total death toll to 1,232.

“We know we’re not out of the woods yet, we’re not close to that,” Murphy said at a news conference.

New York state overtook Italy, reporting overall coronavirus cases second in the world only to Spain, according to a Reuters tally.

New York has 138,836 reported cases compared with Italy’s 135,586. Spain has the most cases at 140,510. The United States has recorded more than 380,000 cases with a total death toll of about 12,300, up by more than 1,400 in the past day.

The total number of U.S. cases equals roughly the combined number of cases reported in the next three countries combined: Spain, Italy and Germany.