N.Y. officials ‘optimistic’ about slowing infection rate
FILE – In this March 9, 2020, file photo, the full moon rises behind the Statue of Liberty in New York. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)
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UPDATED 5:00 PM PT — Friday, April 10, 2020
According to New York officials, the state is beginning to flatten the curve as hospitalization rates slowed this week. On Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo stated officials are “cautiously optimistic” that the infection rate is slowing in New York.
Hospitals also recently reported a decrease in the number of patients in ICU for the first time since the outbreak began.
The governor shared grim news of more than 700 deaths, but noted continuing to slow the infection rate will be beneficial to the state.
“If the hospitalization rate stays the same, we have up to a 90,000 bed capacity in our system, fully taxed up to the brim,” stated Andrew Cuomo. “But that’s an overflow capacity that I hope we don’t use if we keep this curve down.”
New York has confirmed more than 160,000 cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began.
A patient is wheeled out of Elmhurst Hospital Center to a waiting ambulance, Tuesday, April 7, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York, during the current coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
The governor has agreed with President Trump that the World Health Organization (WHO) failed to give the U.S. proper warnings about the coronavirus. On Friday, Cuomo said when headlines about the virus in China broke out in December, the WHO did not alert member countries of the United Nations.
According to the Cuomo, the WHO should have blown the whistle for the U.S. to prepare for the pandemic. He then questioned why the U.S. is in the situation of having more COVID-19 cases than other countries.
“Where were the horns that should have been triggered back in December and January? Where were the warning signs? Who was supposed to blow the whistle? The president has asked this question and I think he’s right. The president’s answer is the World Health Organization should have been blowing the whistle.” – Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York
President Trump and Republican lawmakers have criticized the WHO for its failure to warn other countries about the pandemic. The U.S. is the largest contributor to the agency and the president is now considering suspending funds to the organization.
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