New York health officials say the state is at, or very near, the peak of coronavirus-related fatalities. Governor Andrew Cuomo is cautiously optimistic, but still issuing dire warnings.
Health officials have cut in half their projection for how many beds will be needed for COVID-19 patients in New York. They say the curve is flattening, but Governor Cuomo says it’s unclear how long the deaths will continue. He says they have enough ventilators for now, but that hospitals are at capacity.
“The engine is at redline and you can’t go any faster, and by the way you can’t stay at redline for any period of time.”
Cuomo says other countries have made the mistake of thinking the virus was gone, relaxing social distancing guidelines – only to face a second wave of deaths.
The governor has doubled the fine for gathering in groups to $1,000 and says he wants communities around the state to enforce the guidelines.
“The local governments are charged with enforcement. I want them to enforce them. And I want to be frankly more aggressive on the enforcement because all the anecdotal evidence is people are violating it at a higher rate than before.”
599 people in New York died on Sunday from coronavirus.
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