Here’s what you need to know:
A jump in testing yields a spike in new cases.
A few days ago, New York State was testing only a few hundred people a day for the coronavirus. From Wednesday night to Thursday morning, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said, the state processed the tests of 7,584 people.
The increase came as dozens of private laboratories in the state received authorization to test for the virus. Until recently, two government-run labs had shouldered most of New York’s testing.
The huge increase in testing capacity and the quickening spread of the virus yielded sobering news: As of Thursday afternoon, there were at least 5,298 cases statewide, up from about 3,000 cases on Wednesday. More than 750 people were hospitalized. At least 29 people had died of the virus in New York State.
The 5,298 cases in New York State are by far the most of any state in the country and represent more than 40 percent of the nationwide total of over 12,000 tallied by The New York Times. New York has at least three times as many confirmed cases as Washington State, which has the second most.
When the week began, New York State had tallied fewer than 700 cases. The number has shot up nearly 700 percent since then.
The increase in testing was helped by the addition of three drive-through test centers. The first opened last Friday in New Rochelle, the state’s original virus hot spot. A second opened on Tuesday at Jones Beach State Park on Long Island, and a third opened on Staten Island on Thursday.
In New Jersey, the governor’s office said on Thursday that another 318 people had tested positive, bringing the state’s total to 742. Nine people had died in New Jersey, up from five on Wednesday. Three of the nine deaths were associated with long-term health care facilities, which have been closed to visitors, the state’s health commissioner said.
In Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont said on Thursday that the state had recorded its third coronavirus-related death and had added 63 confirmed virus cases since Wednesday, bringing its total to 159.
Surge in cases creates urgent need for medical gear, mayor says.
New York City had over 4,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and 26 deaths, as of Friday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. That was up from 2,009 cases and 11 deaths, as of late Wednesday.
As the number of cases rises, hospitals in the city are on pace to run out of crucial medical equipment, including face masks and gloves, in the next few weeks if new supplies do not arrive soon, Mr. de Blasio said on Thursday.
Among the needs, the mayor said, are three million N95 masks, 50 million surgical masks and 15,000 ventilators. New York State has only about 3,000 ventilators, one for each intensive-care hospital room.
Health care workers will need another 45 million of each of the following: surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves, regular face masks and face shields, the mayor said.
Jonah Engel Bromwich, Michael Gold, Matthew Haag, Andy Newman, and Liam Stack contributed reporting.
