Coronavirus Update for 3/31: New York and Beyond

This the the daily coronavirus update  from NY and beyond.

Cuomo Press Conference Notes

• Cuomo said New York has confirmed 172,196 cases of coronavirus and 1,550 deaths, accounting for about half of all deaths in the country. The governor also noted new coronavirus-related hospitalizations surged to its biggest single-day increase since the start of the outbreak in the state
• Cuomo said the state is trying to prepare for when it hits its peak number of coronavirus cases, which will likely come in the next few weeks.“We’ve been behind this virus from day one,” Cuomo said, arguing officials and hospitals need to prepare for the likely surge in cases. The governor noted the state is creating a stockpile of medical equipment to prepare for the apex of the crisis. “We are gathering equipment we don’t need today,” Cuomo said. “Because today is not the apex of the battle.”
• Andrew Cuomo said “nobody knows” when the coronavirus crisis may end, and New Yorkers should prepare accordingly. “I can say this, it’s not going to be soon,” Cuomo said of when the crisis may start to dissipate. “So calibrate yourself and your expectations, so you are not disappointed every morning when you wake up.”
• Cuomo noted his brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, was considered an essential worker. CNN said the host was at its New York offices as recently as last Friday. His brother has coronavirus, Cuomo said there are lessons to be learned from this.
• New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the chaos created by a bidding war on ventilators was easily predictable and should have been avoided. “You have 50 states competing to buy the same item. It’s like being on Ebay,” the governor said. “How inefficient!”
• Andrew Cuomo said he is dissatisfied with how the state’s unemployment system is working now as many companies lay off employees. “It is not working as smoothly as I’d like to see it,” Cuomo said. “It’s compunding people’s stress.”

New York Notes

• New York City has seen 932 deaths from coronavirus, marking an increase of 142 since yesterday morning, according to the latest statistics. The city has also seen more than 40,000 cases, the majority of them being people under the age of 50.
• Congressman Max Rose announced he would deploy to the National Guard to help with coronavirus response efforts. Rose, a captain in the Army National Guard, will deploy tomorrow and serve as an operations officer at Staten Island facilities in the coming weeks, his office said in a statement.
• A Brooklyn man coughed on FBI agents and then told them he had the coronavirus as they arrested him for price gouging on N95 respirators and other medical supplies, prosecutors say.
• An Amazon worker who led a walkout at a New York City facility on Monday has been fired. On Tuesday afternoon New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, said he had ordered the city’s human rights commissioner to investigate the dismissal.
• The head of the state’s funeral directors association fears New York City could soon see dead bodies piling up due to the surge in coronavirus deaths combined with limits on cemetery shifts
• According to NJ.com, the number of coronavirus deaths in New Jersey surged to 267 on Tuesday with the largest single-day increase in deaths as the outbreak continues to widen with 18,696 total coronavirus cases statewide. There were 69 new deaths reported Tuesday, including a Passaic County Firefighter.

National Updates

• As of Tuesday morning there were more than 164,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the United States and 3,161 had died, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. In New York state there were 67,384 confirmed cases and 1,342 deaths. Neighboring New Jersey had the second-most cases with 16,636 cases and 198 deaths.
• Projections from the University of Washington show COVID-19 could cause nearly 84,000 deaths in the U.S. by early August, with as many as 2,214 deaths a day at the nation’s peak in two weeks. That apex is expected to occur sooner in New York, WSJ reported
• Economists at the Fed’s St. Louis district project total employment reductions of 47 million, which would translate to a 32.1% unemployment rate, according to a recent analysis of how bad things could get, CNBC reported.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects the U.S. economy to experience a far deeper slump than previously anticipated as the coronavirus pandemic hammers businesses, causing a wave of mass unemployment. The world’s largest economy will shrink an annualized 34% in the second quarter, compared with an earlier estimate of 24%, economists led by Jan Hatzius wrote in a report. Unemployment will soar to 15% by mid-year, up from a previous forecast of 9%, they wrote.
• Dr Anthony Fauci,the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said he believes the country is already starting to see the effects of social distancing restrictions. “If you look now, we’re starting to see glimmers that [social distancing] is actually having some dampening effect,” Fauci told CNN. Fauci’s comments come as officials in the San Francisco area are reporting they are seeing fewer coronavirus cases than expected two weeks after ordering residents to stay home
• Republican senator Rick Scott called for most testing to be done in his home state of Florida, where governor Ron DeSantishas not yet issued a statewide “stay at home” order.
• Ohio Governor Mike DeWine complained about the lack of “widespread testing, several other are echoing the same sentiment
• House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats’ fourth coronavirus bill would help to serve state and local leaders grappling with the pandemic.

World Updates 

• Global deaths pass 40,000. Data collected by Johns Hopkins University researchers show at least 40,636 people have died across the world, while 174,019 people have recovered after becoming infected. At least 823,479 people have been infected
• The latest rash of deaths reported in New York and elsewhere across the country pushed the US death toll past China’s number, making the US the latest nation, joining Italy and Spain, to surpass China’s death toll. As of late Tuesday morning, the American death toll was at least 3,393 deaths, compared with China’s 3,305, according to Reuters
• 5,358 Israelis have so far tested positive for the coronavirus, with the vast majority of cases mild and 224 recoveries. Twenty patients have died, 94 are in serious condition and 76 are on ventilators. One Israeli tourist died in Ital
• UK sees largest one-day increase in deaths. A total of 1,789 patients have died in UK hospitals after testing positive as of 5pm on Monday (BST), the country’s Department of Health and Social Care says. That is up 381 from 1,408 on the previous 24 hours and represents a 27% day-on-day increase – by far the biggest so far.
• Italy death toll rises by 837. A total of 12,428 people are now known to have died in the southern European country; the world’s worst national death toll. Some 77,635 are currently infected with an increase of 2,107 new cases on Tuesday, 459 more than Monday.
• France’s health authorities announced an increase of 499 deaths of patients with the coronavirus in the country’s hospitals on Tuesday, the biggest jump in deaths since the start of the pandemic,
• Ireland: confirmed cases of coronavirus halve. Ireland on Monday confirmed 295 new cases, the second highest daily number, bringing the total to 2,910. It recorded eight deaths, bringing the death toll to 54. Northern Ireland has 533 confirmed cases and 22 deaths.
• Chinese government researchers isolated more than 2,000 new viruses, including deadly bat coronaviruses, and carried out scientific work on them just three miles from a wild animal market identified as the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Chinese state media outlets in recent months touted the virus research and lionized in particular a key researcher in Wuhan, Tian Junhua, as a leader in bat virus work, Washington Times reported.
•  13-year-old boy in London who tested positive has died, Kings College hospital has said. He is believed to be the youngest victim of the outbreak in the UK.
• Slovakia has registered its first death since the outbreak began, according to data from the National Health Information Centre. As of midnight on Monday, Slovakia had 363 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.