You are reading

New York State Has Conducted More Coronovirus Tests Than Anywhere in the Nation: Cuomo

Gov. Andrew Cuomo at press conference March 21

March 21, 2020 By Christian Murray

New York State has conducted more coronavirus tests than any other state, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this morning.

He said the state has performed 45,000 tests to date, much higher than the states of California and Washington–each having performed 23,000 tests. He said on a per capita basis the number is higher than South Korea and China.

The number of positive cases in the state was 10,356, with 6,211 in New York City, he announced this morning. He noted that 15 percent of cases resulted in hospitalization.

He said the rise was in part due to increased testing and that they were just identifying people who had already contracted the virus.

He said that he will be sending 1 million N95 masks to New York City. Additionally more than 6,000 ventilators will be coming to the state in upcoming weeks from around the world.

Cuomo said that he is working on setting up four field hospitals, which would be used to test and possibly treat cases of COVID-19 infections.

Cuomo said he hopes to bring a field hospital to the Javits Center that would have four 250-bed units with a total capacity of 1,000.

He has three other locations in mind in the region—including SUNY Stony Brook and SUNY Westbury as well as the Westchester Convention Center. Each would have 250 beds.

Most people will be infected—projected to be between 40 percent and 80 percent of the state’s population—and he said his goal is to manage the rate of infection so the hospital system is not overwhelming.

Cuomo warned people to be weary of false rumors.

“There will be no roadblocks saying you can’t leave an area,” he said. Society, he added, will continue to function, with pharmacies open and food available.

“I haven’t hidden anything from you,” Cuomo said. “I haven’t tilted the facts.”

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

New York Hall of Science awarded federal funding for project on artificial intelligence

New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) will play a key role in the future of artificial and natural intelligence after U.S. Rep. Grace Meng announced that the institution in Flushing Meadows Corona Park has been awarded nearly a half-million dollars in federal funding from the National Science Foundation over the next five years.

NYSCI will be part of a $20 million initiative led by Columbia University to establish an AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence (ARNI), an interdisciplinary center that will bring together several top research institutions to focus on a national priority: connecting the major progress made in AI systems to the revolution in understanding the brain.