Held in Albany, Cuomo’s Wednesday briefing will be available to watch online via live streams accessible through multiple platforms, including CBS News and the governor’s official website.
At least 140,386 people have tested positive for the virus across New York state as of Wednesday morning, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker’s most recent update, and Cuomo will likely provide more timely statistics at the 11 a.m. briefing. At Tuesday’s briefing, the governor confirmed there were 5,489 total fatalities statewide—up from 4,758 on Monday—in addition to 8,174 new cases.
“That’s 731 people who we lost,” Cuomo said, noting that New York reported more COVID-19 deaths on April 6 than it had on any day before that. “Behind every one of those numbers is an individual, is a family, is a mother, is a father, is a sister, is a brother. So a lot of pain again today for many New Yorkers, and they’re in our thoughts and prayers.”
In remarks made earlier this week and over the past weekend, the governor suggested the state’s fatality rate was approaching a plateau, with 599 deaths on Sunday and 594 on Saturday. Responding to the record increase that followed, as well as the state’s steadily increasing hospitalization count, Cuomo signed an executive order allowing hospitals with a lower demand for ventilators, respirators and other protective equipment to transfer supplies to other hospitals low on resources.
New York’s daily admission rate at hospitals was down Tuesday, compared with previous days, as were reports of new intubations and patients in intensive care units. The state’s overall hospitalization tally, however, has continued an upward trend and reached almost 17,500 earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Cuomo also announced new advancements regarding the state’s approach to diagnostic testing for COVID-19. He said New York’s Department of Health had developed an antibody test to detect the virus’ presence in blood. In addition, he shared New York’s plans to partner with private companies that can help broaden the state’s testing capabilities.
“How do you get people back to work as quickly as possible? It’s going to come down to testing,” he told the press room, after extending New York’s “pause” directive through at least the end of April on Monday. “You’re going to have to know who had the virus, who resolved the virus, who never had it. And that’s going to be testing.”
