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An additional 139 deaths were reported on Sunday. Of those, 106 were in hospitals and 33 were in nursing homes. The 139 deaths is the lowest one-day total reported since late March, according to state data.
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The total number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized in the state has slowly but steadily declined. As of Saturday, there were 5,897 patients hospitalized, down from 6,220 the day before.
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The average number of new virus patients who have been hospitalized over the last three days has also declined, to 374, down from 400 a day earlier.
- Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Cuomo announced that New York State has doubled testing capacity to reach 40,000 diagnostic tests per day, and encouraged eligible New Yorkers to visit a new website to find a nearby testing site. Today’s announcement comes three weeks after the Governor announced an agreement for New York State to work with the federal government to grow New York’s daily testing capacity from 20,000 tests a day to 40,000 tests a day.
The state’s diagnostic testing criteria now includes all individuals who would return to the workplace in phase one of the state’s reopening plan. New Yorkers eligible for diagnostic testing now include:
- Any individual who has COVID-19 symptoms;
- Any individual who has had contact with a person known to be positive with COVID-19;
- Any individual who is subject to a precautionary or mandatory quarantine;
- Any individual who is employed as a health care worker, nursing home worker or first responder;
- Any essential worker who directly interacts with the public while working; and
- Any individual who would return to the workplace in phase one of the state’s reopening plan.
The Governor also announced the launch of a new website where New Yorkers can easily find the nearest COVID-19 testing sites. New Yorkers can visit coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-testing and enter their address to view a list and a map view of the nearest testing sites. The state has also partnered with Google Maps to display testing site results. New Yorkers can search “COVIDtesting near me” on Google Maps to easily find the nearest testing sites.
“Throughout this entire pandemic, testing was key to controlling the virus and now it will be key to monitoring the virus as we begin reopening in regions across the state,” Governor Cuomo said. “New York has worked aggressively to build a massive statewide sample collection network and is now testing more than any state or country per capita, but our new problem is we have more sites and capacity than we’re actually using. The more New Yorkers get tested, the better — and we are going to ensure to all individuals who will return to the workplace in phase one of our reopening plan have access to testing, and we are launching a new website to make it easier for New Yorkers to find nearby testing sites.”
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants thousands more New Yorkers to get tested for Covid-19 — so much so that he got tested for the virus during his live news briefing in Albany on Sunday, NY Times reported
He stood still and closed his eyes as a doctor fully swathed in personal protection equipment inserted a swab deep into his nose. Then the governor sat back down without so much as a sneeze.
“That is the whole test,” Mr. Cuomo said. “I’m not in pain, I’m not in discomfort. Closing my eyes was a moment of relaxation. There is no reason why you should not get the test.”
