Cases of COVID-19 surged by 38 per cent (around 5,000 cases) overnight in the state of New York, taking the total to 20,875. With 12,305 cases, New York City is now the worst-hit in the country, and the NYC region alone accounts for nearly five per cent of coronavirus cases worldwide.
The unprecedented crisis prompted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to issue an emergency order directing hospitals to increase their capacity by 50 per cent. In a press conference, Cuomo warned that up to 80 per cent of the state’s residents could get the coronavirus, saying “Many people will get the virus but few will truly be in danger.”|
New York has nearly 20 million residents, while New York City—the largest city in the US—has around 8.6 million. The state has been testing more people than other US states with about 78,000 people having been tested so far.
Since Friday (March 20), 100 per cent of the city’s work force had been ordered to stay home besides those working in essential services like pharmacies, grocery stores and delivery services.
As of Monday, the US had 40,841 cases and 483 reported deaths. New York, New Jersey, Washington, California, Florida and Illinois were the states with the most number of cases.
The US has the third-most number of cases in the world after Italy (59,138) and China (81,496).
