Virus numbers ‘low and stable,’ says gov

Five New Yorkers died of coronavirus and 801 others were hospitalized for the dreaded condition on Saturday, continuing the state’s efforts of keeping the outbreak under control, according to Gov. Cuomo.

The numbers released Sunday were on par with a trend from the preceding three days, in which the state’s coronavirus hospitalizations and average three-day death toll hit its lowest levels since mid-March.

“Today’s numbers remain low and stable, but it is up to us to keep it that way,” Cuomo said. “Being ‘New York Tough’ isn’t easy, but New Yorkers have shown the nation that we can effectively fight the virus when we all come together, and I urge them not to give up any ground now.”

The numbers came as coronavirus deaths continue to increase nationwide.

The seven-day average for daily reported fatalities reached 664 July 10, according to an Associated Press analysis of Johns Hopkins University data, up from 578 two weeks before.

While the new average was below peaks in April, experts say the numbers indicate the U.S. outbreak will be “a much longer, slower burn,” in the words of William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious diseases researcher.

Columbia University researchers recently found 17,500 fewer people would have died in the metropolitan area had lockdown measures gone into effect just a week earlier.