New York deaths apparently level off
Governor warns not to halt social distancing
NEWYORK— The steep rise in coronavirus deaths appeared to be leveling off Monday in hard-hit New York, echoing a trend underway in Italy and Spain.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the first faint signs that the outbreak there might be at or near its peak, while warning it’s no time to relax the social distancing restrictions. He ordered bigger fines against violators.
“The numbers look like it may be turning. ‘Yay, it’s over!’ No, it’s not. And other places have made that mistake,” he said as deaths in the U.S. climbed past 10,000, with around 350,000 confirmed infections.
The latest data suggests that social distancing appears to be working in some countries, and better than expected.
One of the main models on the outbreak, the University of Washington’s, is now projecting about 82,000 U.S. deaths through early August, or 12 percent fewer than previously forecast, with the highest number of daily deaths occurring April 16.
The model relies on much more robust data from Italy and Spain and from hospitals.
The number of dead in New York state rose past 4,700, and the death toll in New York City closed in on the 2,753 lives lost at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
The state has been averaging just under 600 deaths per day for the past four days. As horrific as that number is, the roughly steady daily totals were seen as a positive sign. Cuomo also reported that the number of new people entering hospitals daily has dropped, as has the number of critically ill patients who require ventilators.
At the same time, he ordered schools and nonessential businesses to remain closed until the end of the month and announced he is doubling the fines for rule breakers to $1,000. Even as he announced positive signs, he warned that hospitals are under extreme pressure.
To help ease the strain, a hospital ship sent to New York City can now be used for COVID-19 patients, President Donald Trump said. The governor tweeted that the USNS Comfort would add 1,000 beds staffed by federal personnel.
“This will provide much-needed relief to our over stressed hospital systems,” Cuomo wrote.
Elsewhere around the country:
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, reported the death of a girl born prematurely after her mother contracted the disease and was put on a ventilator. Louisiana, where New Orleans hosts millions of tourists yearly, had over 500 deaths.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that the state would lend 500 ventilators to the national stockpile for use by New York and other states experiencing a crush of coronavirus-related hospitalizations, even as he said the state needs to find more ventilators of its own.
South Carolina’s governor added criminal penalties to his orders demanding people stay home unless going to work or the grocery store to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Gov. Henry Mcmaster said people can call it a “stay-at-home” order if they like. South Carolina had been the final state east of the Mississippi to not have that specific order.
A West Virginia judge in the county with the state’s highest coronavirus caseload has approved strapping ankle monitors to people who test positive but refuse to quarantine. The Monday order allows Kanawha County sheriffs to use the GPS bracelets if someone with the virus ignores an isolation order.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that because of the coronavirus outbreak schools will remain physically closed for the remainder of the school year and that the state’s more than 1.2 million public and private K-12 students will continue distance learning until the end of June.