NY coronavirus deaths down; vigilance urged

The coronavirus death toll in New York dropped again, a sign that Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday means the state is “on the other side of the plateau” and that ongoing social distancing practices are working to stem the spread of the virus.

Cuomo said 507 people died on Saturday, down 43 from the previous day and by 271 since last Monday. Other indicators were going in the right direction, the governor said. Hospitalizations were down by more than 750, to 16,213.

But Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio maintained their warnings that people in New York City and the rest of the state need to stay vigilant to curb the spread of the virus.

“We showed that we can control the beast and when you close down, you can actually slow that infection rate, but this is only halftime,” Cuomo said Sunday at a briefing. “We still have to make sure that we keep that beast under control, we keep that infection rate down, we keep that hospitalization rate down as we all get very eager to get on with life and move on.”

Here are the latest coronavirus developments in New York:

• The drop in the death toll in New York reported Sunday prompted Cuomo to say, “We are on the other side of the plateau.”

But both Cuomo and de Blasio said the crisis is far from over, cautioning that the temptation for cooped-up New Yorkers to take advantage of the spring weather presents new challenges to keep the outbreak in check.

Police and park officers will be out in force to break up outdoor gatherings that pose a risk, with violators facing potential fines of up to $1,000, the mayor said. The city is encouraging people to text authorities photos when they spot the gatherings.

“We do not want to see this disease boomerang,” he said. “We do not want to see it come back with a vengeance.”

Nearly 14,000 New Yorkers in all have died since the state’s first coronavirus case was reported March 1, according to state data. The state total doesn’t include more than 4,000 New York City deaths that were blamed on the virus on death certificates but weren’t confirmed by a lab test.

• President Donald Trump is betraying his fellow New Yorkers by failing to push for billions of dollars in additional federal aid needed to help the city deal with the coronavirus economic crisis, de Blasio said Sunday.

The mayor had harsh words for the Queens-born president, claiming both he and Vice-President Mike Pence have ignored his overtures on the stimulus funds.

“Right now you are failing to protect the very people you grew up around,” de Blasio said of Trump. “When New York City is in need, where are you?”