New York state virus toll tops 4,000 with 594 new deaths in 24 hours
The spike by 594 deaths showed a slight decrease in the day-to-day number of lives lost
NEW YORK (AFP) - The coronavirus death toll in New York state rose to 4,159, the governor said Sunday, up from 3,565 a day prior.
The spike by 594 deaths showed a slight decrease in the day-to-day number of lives lost compared to the previous day.
It was the first time the day-over-day toll had dropped -- on Saturday it hit a record of 630 deaths in 24 hours -- but Governor Andrew Cuomo told journalists it was too early to tell whether that was a "blip."
The peak of the pandemic in New York -- the US area hardest hit thus far by the fast-spreading virus -- could arrive over the next week, Cuomo said, though he cautioned it was still unclear if the apex would be a point or a plateau.
"We could be on that plateau right now," Cuomo said at his daily briefing.
"We won t know for the next few days, does it go up, does it go down."
The state has now reported 122,031 positive cases of COVID-19, which has much of the United States under stay-at-home orders.
New York City remains the nation s epicenter but the governor warned over the weekend that nearby hotspots were emerging on Long Island and in the neighboring state New Jersey.
