Coronavirus deaths continue to drop in New York as lockdown continues

The daily coronavirus death rate has continued to fall in New York, hitting its lowest point in over two weeks.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced 504 died of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours on Sunday, adding that hospitalizations and ICU admissions continue to decline. On Saturday, the governor said 540 were killed by the outbreak, which was the first time the daily death toll dropped below 550 in weeks.

Despite hopeful decrease in deaths and hospitalizations, New York officials revamped warnings that the state is not ready to open schools, businesses and gatherings. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will be stepping up enforcement on social distancing orders as spring brings warmer weather to the world coronavirus capital. He said people will be facing a $1,000 fine for breaking the rules and urged New Yorkers to text authorities pictures of gatherings to help monitor and prevent them.

‘We do not want to see the disease boomerang. We do not want to see it come back with a vengeance,’ the mayor said.

New York has suffered more than 18,100 coronavirus deaths as of Sunday and over 241,000 have tested positive for the virus in the state. At least 13,000 of those deaths have occurred in New York City. That number includes 8,448 New Yorkers who were confirmed to have the virus and another 4,264 ‘probable’ victims who showed symptoms of the illness before they died.

Although health officials have said the trajectory of the outbreak appears to be a hopeful one, hospitals are still reporting almost 2,000 new Covid-19 patients per day.

‘If the data holds, we are past the high point and all indications…at this point we are on a descent. Whether or not that descent continues depends on what we do,’ Governor Cuomo said.