ALBANY, N.Y. - Governor Andrew Cuomo says the latest models charting the coronavirus outbreak in New York appear to show the apex will likely hit at the end of the month.
There are now 83,712 cases of coronavirus in New York State, including 47,439 here in the city.
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Citywide, as of Wednesday, there were 1,374 deaths due to COVID-19, according to the state and the city.
Wednesday morning, Cuomo reported 1,942 deaths in the state. That death count was reported before the city updated its total in the evening.
There are currently 12,226 people hospitalized, including 3,022 in the ICU.
To date, 6,142 coronavirus patients have been discharged.
Governor Cuomo, citing the Gates Foundation, says 93,000 Americans could die of coronavirus, including 16,000 New Yorkers. This is lower than models referenced by President Donald Trump a day prior estimating 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die.
However, Cuomo pointed out all are projections based on different models.
"If you believe these numbers, that means you’re going to have tens of thousands of deaths outside of New York," said Cuomo. "It’s a new York problem today, tomorrow it’s a Kansas problem or a Texas problem."
While delivering his daily update in the state capital Wednesday, Cuomo also announced he is closing all New York City playgrounds after people failed to comply with social distancing rules.
The governor says open spaces in parks will still be available to New Yorkers but reiterated they must practice social distancing.
On his brother Chris Cuomo's positive coronavirus diagnosis, Cuomo says there is a lesson in all this.
“Anyone can get this disease”--the young, the strong, the healthy, those in other states. I couldn’t protect my own brother," Cuomo said.
On a sobering note, the governor said New Yorkers must take what we're learning from this whole battle against the coronavirus and use it as a transformative message to change our lives in a positive direction.
"We're never going to be the same again. We're not going to forget what happened here," said Cuomo. "The fear that we have, the anxiety that we have, that's not just going to go away. When do we get back to normal? I don't think we get back to normal. I think we get back or we get to a new normal. Our challenge is to make sure that transformation and change is positive not negative."
Cuomo added the city and state must get more rapid response tests so people can test themselves and get back to work.