NY governor says social distancing slowing spread of virus

NEW YORK — Social distancing appears to be slowing the spread of the coronavirus in New York, the epicenter of America’s pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo says.

In his daily update on efforts to contain the deadly pandemic, Cuomo says projection rates suggested hospitalizations were increasing at a slower rate than before.

“The arrows are headed in the right direction,” he tells reporters.

Cuomo says New York was still “on the way up the mountain” and won’t meet the peak of declared cases for another three weeks.

But he adds that projections show that hospitalizations are now doubling every 4.7 days as opposed to every two days as was the case on Sunday.

The state’s almost 20 million residents have been confined to their homes since Cuomo ordered all non-essential businesses closed on Sunday.

He says that the number of confirmed infections in Westchester County, the origin of New York’s outbreak, has “dramatically slowed” following a two-week containment.

New York has 30,811 declared cases, up by 5,146, Cuomo says.

Almost 18,000 of those are in New York City, which reported almost 3,000 new cases, he adds.

Some 192 people have died in the city, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.

— AFP