BREAKING NEWS: “The worst is over” says New York governor as state death toll reaches new grim milestone

NEW YORK reached a grim milestone on Easter Sunday when the state’s coronavirus death toll climbed to more than 10,000, yet Governor Andrew Cuomo said it looks as though “the worst is over.”

Speaking at his press briefing today, Monday, Andrew Cuomo revealed another 671 people have died from Covid-19, bringing the statewide fatality total to 10,056.

He described the death toll as “terrible news, as terrible as it gets,” adding that the deaths at Easter were “especially tragic.”

But the increase compares with a figure of 758 deaths for the previous 24 hours.

New York’s single-day death figures over the last week, along with the hospitalisation statistics, indicate that the pandemic curve is flattening. But, Cuomo stressed, “It is flat at a horrific level of pain and grief and sorrow.

“This is like watching a fire going through dry grass with a strong wind.”

Coronavirus infections in New York now stand at 195,031, a greater number than in any country outside the US, after another 6,337 tested positive. Again, massively high as the figure is, this is also the first time new cases have numbered less than 7,000 for 15 days.

Commenting on the reopening of New York’s economy, Cuomo made it clear the state needs to proceed with caution to not “undermine everything the restrictions have accomplished.”

He said the opening up again would be incremental and that the plan would be down to public health and economic experts, and not to politicians.

“If we turn that valve too fast you’ll see the numbers jump up,” he warned.

“The worst is over if we continue to be smart moving forward,” Cuomo said, adding, “We are starting on the way back to normalcy.”