N.Y. NOW HAS 22
More virus cases tied to attorney, city sees 2 patients, and 1 on Long Island
Another cluster of suburban coronavirus cases was linked Thursday to the New Rochelle lawyer at the epicenter of the New York outbreak, with 17 infections now attributed to the suburban father of four as Long Island reported its first positive test.
The number of statewide coronavirus cases in New York doubled to 22, with eight new victims testing positive in Westchester County, two in New York City and the Long Island diagnosis, according to Gov. Cuomo. The city cases involved a woman in her 80s and a man in his 40s, with both hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
Officials said there was no shared thread between the New York patients, although both had underlying medical issues that possibly exacerbated their health woes.
“Neither patient has a connection to travel nor any of the other local individuals diagnosed with [the coronavirus],” Mayor de Blasio said Thursday. “City disease detectives are tracing close contacts of both individuals and will ensure they are appropriately isolated and tested immediately.”
One of the new Westchester cases was an employee at New York Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, where the ailing attorney was driven by a neighbor for treatment on
Feb. 27. The driver has also tested positive for the virus.
The Long Island victim, a 42-year-old man, was hospital11 ized after the coronavirus diagnosis but was already showing improvement, said Cuomo. The governor urged the state’s residents to remain calm despite the rising number of the sick.
“The facts do not merit the level of anxiety we are seeing,” Cuomo said at the now-daily coronavirus briefing. “The number will go up because this is math — the more people you test, the most positives you will get.
“The numbers can’t go down,” he added. “We’re not going to detect fewer cases than yesterday.”
The new cases doubled the victims identified through Wednesday — all but one linked to the infected lawyer, who lives in Westchester and works on E. 42nd St. in Manhattan. Those who tested positive included his wife, son and daughter, along with a friend whose spouse and three kids were diagnosed with coronavirus.
All were placed under selfquarantine in their homes.
County Executive George Latimer and New Rochelle Mayor Noam Branson visited businesses in the city in an effort to calm any rattled nerves as the ranks of the infected grew.
“This is a moment for our entire community to come together, and especially to lift up the residents and businesses that are bearing the heaviest
burdens,” said Branson.
Worshipers at the Temple Young Israel synagogue in New Rochelle were specifically warned about the potentially lethal virus after investigators learned the infected man was there on Feb. 22-23, with the county health commissioner suspending all services at the house of worship.
While there were two new cases in the city, another 25 tests for the virus have so far come back as negative, said de Blasio. And officials at Yeshiva University in Manhattan announced tests on two students whose roommate had the virus came back negative. The sick student was the son of the suburban lawyer.
“So the batting average is good,” de Blasio explained be“The fore criticizing the federal government as slow to respond to the growing crisis. federal government was very late to the dance in getting tests out to localities,” he continued. “They’re still late in terms of getting the volume we need. Right now, we can test dozens of people on a single day. We need to get that up to hundreds, maybe even thousands, very quickly.”
The Yeshiva basketball team was turned away Thursday by nervous employees at a Maryland hotel after arriving the day before a Friday game against Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Baltimore. The DoubleTree Hotel in Pikesville, Md., canceled the team’s reservation over fears of the contagious virus.
As part of its effort to slow any spread, the Department of Correction was cleaning common areas and other parts of their facilities once a day. Every Staten Island ferry boat was getting scrubbed down at least once every 72 hours, while city workers are handing out materials detailing the facts about the virus.
The mayor additionally called on New Yorkers returning from China, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan to isolate themselves at home for 14 days as a precaution. City workers returning after visiting one of those five countries in the past four days must undergo testing if they experience any symptoms — and will face employment consequences if they refuse.