New York state will adjust its COVID-19 death toll reporting to include presumed or probable cases in accordance with new CDC guidelines, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. He said his team was contacting health facilities to get updated numbers, though it wasn’t immediately clear when that data would be available.
As for confirmed deaths, New York state added another 752 overnight, bringing its official toll above 11,500 as of Wednesday. Amid the tragedy, there were more signs of optimism as total hospitalizations showed a net decrease for the second consecutive day. Also encouraging: Net intubations were down. Cuomo says 80 percent of people on ventilators never come off them.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” the governor said Wednesday. “Coronavirus is still a monumental public health crisis and we are losing New Yorkers every day to this virus. Each New Yorker lost to COVID is a heartbreaking loss.”
To help prevent more loss of life, Cuomo is now ordering all New Yorkers to wear a mask or cloth covering their noses and mouths when they are in public and not able to maintain a 6-foot distance from others. He, along with all local leaders and the nation’s top health experts, have said social distancing is the key factor to slowing the spread of infection and, ultimately, preventing more death. Cuomo said he would leave enforcement up to local jurisdictions, and the order would go into effect April 17.
