New York reports record daily COVID-19 death count of 799

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state lost 799 people to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported Thursday morning at his daily briefing.

It was the third straight day of record death totals after 779 deaths were reported Wednesday and 731 on Tuesday.

Regarding the new high in deaths, the governor said, “It’s gotten to the point, frankly, that we’re going to bring in additional funeral directors to deal with the number of people who have passed. If you ever told me that as governor I would have to take these actions, I couldn’t even contemplate where we are now.”

But Cuomo also had more positive news to share. New hospitalizations and intensive-care unit (ICU) admissions tumbled from the day before to new lows, while new intubations fell slightly and were well off the highs of a few days ago.

“All of this data suggests that we are flattening the curve so far, and the numbers are coming down so far,” the governor said. “So far our efforts are working. They’re working better than anyone projected they would work. That’s because people are complying with them.”

New York State reported 10,621 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a 7.1 percent daily increase. That’s compared to Wednesday’s 10,480 new cases, which was a 7.5 percent rise.

New York now has 159,937 total people who have tested positive for the virus and 7,067 total deaths, which equals a 4.4 percent death rate.

Cuomo again emphasized the need to keep social distancing going.

“If we stop acting the way we’re acting, you will see those numbers go up,” he said, referring to the hospitalization statistics and the flattening of the case curve. “Don’t underestimate this virus.”

The governor added, “If you don’t want to stay home for yourself, stay home for someone you love. That’s what the stay at home campaign is all about.”