New York is making “really great progress’’ in its fight against the coronavirus, registering the lowest number of daily deaths since the pandemic started — but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the woods, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.
“Those numbers can change in a week … and once they change, you can’t change them back that quickly,’’ the governor said, noting other states’ struggles with rising figures.
There were 23 coronavirus deaths reported in New York on Saturday and an increase of 1.1 percent in new positive cases of the contagion, the governor said. Seventeen of the deaths were in hospitals and six in nursing homes.
At the height of the pandemic, New York was registering around 800 deaths a day, and nearly 50 percent of those tested were positive for the virus.
New York City’s daily infection rate was down to 1.4 percent, although the figure for the borough of Staten Island was 2.9 percent, the highest for it in five days. It was at a low of 1.1 percent Friday before jumping up the next day.
“That can be a Saturday aberration, but we’re watching it,” the governor said of Staten Island’s situation.
Otherwise, “we breathe a sigh of relief today,” the governor said. “Today is another great day for New Yorkers.”
Still, he warned Manhattan and the Hamptons on Long Island that if their residents don’t begin to social-distance better — with the local governments cracking down on scofflaws — he would shut them down again.
Cuomo added that he is extending enrollment in the state’s healthcare exchange by another 30 days.
He said it’s still unclear what college learning in the state will look like this fall.
