New York state confirms more than 1,000 deaths

New York eclipsed 1,000 confirmed deaths related to the novel coronavirus, the state said Sunday.
 

Earlier in the day, as confirmed cases approached 60,000 in the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said he thinks “thousands” of people will eventually die of covid-19, the disease the virus causes.
 

The fatality rate is based on the number of people who test positive for covid-19, Zucker said. He explained that the rate, in reality, could be lower because testing priority is given to those who are health-comprised or exhibiting obvious symptoms.
 

Seeming determined not to mire Sunday’s update in gloom, Cuomo said the rate at which the number of confirmed cases double has slowed: Cases are now doubling every six days compared with mid-March, when the rate was every two days. The governor noted another small but encouraging sign: The number of people who were infected and admitted to hospitals and then discharged also is climbing daily, meaning people are continuing to recover. The rate of new hospitalizations, however, also has grown.
 

Given the severity of the outbreak in New York, Cuomo said he would extend through April 15 an executive order mandating that all nonessential workers stay home and that people maintain a six-foot distance in public.
 

The country is likely to experience a “rolling apex” — meaning the infection rate will peak at staggered times in different places. Cuomo said the same phenomenon is predicted on a state level in New York, with New York City bracing for the “high-water mark” of infections, followed by hot spots such as Westchester County and Long Island and, eventually, Upstate New York.