Coronavirus (CDC)
April 14, 2020 By Allie Griffin
New York City is continuing to flatten the COVID-19 curve, although it suffered a setback over the weekend with the number of coronavirus patients in the ICU going up, Mayor Bill de Blasio said today.
The number of people in the ICU at the city’s public hospitals for coronavirus increased from 835 on Saturday to 850 on Sunday — the latest data available — de Blasio said.
Meanwhile, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 also rose on the weekend. Of the people tested, 59.6 percent came back positive on Sunday, up from 58.1 percent on Saturday.
However, the number of people admitted to city hospitals for suspected COVID-19 dropped from 383 on Saturday to 326 on Sunday.
The three statistics, according to the mayor, must drop consistently before the city will look to lift some of the restrictions.
“We’ve got to see consistent progress to be able to talk about any changes in those rules and restrictions that are working,” de Blasio said. “So we’re going to stick with them until we see really sustained progress.”
On Monday, de Blasio announced that all three statistics had gone down, providing a glimmer of hope for New Yorkers.
“We had a really good day yesterday. Progress in all those indicators all went down together,” de Blasio said. “Today no such luck.”
However, he said people should not be too disheartened by today’s numbers.
“It does not mean you should be discouraged,” he added. “It’s just a reminder we’re gonna fight our way out of this. It’s not going to happen overnight. There’ll be good days and bad days.”
New York State as a whole also reported some disappointing numbers.
The number of deaths jumped from 671 on Sunday to 778 yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Sunday’s death toll was the lowest in about a week.
Despite the one-day uptick, Cuomo said the number of deaths is “basically flat” — although at a devastating level.
In total, 10,834 New Yorkers have died from coronavirus.
Hospitalizations and the net change of ICU admissions and intubations across the state have all decreased, Cuomo said.
