Fauci sees signs of the virus becoming cyclical, like the flu.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday that he was seeing indications that the virus could keep returning as a “seasonal, cyclic thing,” like the flu.
One of the key questions about the virus has been whether its spread would slow or stop in warm weather and return in cold weather, and Dr. Fauci suggested that it may follow that seasonal pattern.
“What we are starting to see now in the southern hemisphere,” he said, referring specifically to southern Africa, “is that we are having cases that are appearing as they go into their winter season. And if, in fact, they have a substantial outbreak, it will be inevitable that we need to be prepared that we will get a cycle around the second time.”
That makes it all the more important that scientists “have a vaccine available for that next cycle,” as well as “a menu of drugs that we have shown to be effective and shown to be safe,” he said.
Cuomo said there were signs that density- control measures were working.
Though the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to grow quickly and has now topped 30,000, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Wednesday said that there were early signs that stringent restrictions on social gatherings and other measures could be slowing the virus’s spread.
Mr. Cuomo highlighted data that showed slowing hospitalization rates. On Sunday, the state’s projections showed hospitalizations doubling every two days, while Tuesday’s estimates showed them doubling every 4.7 days.
New York State has 30,811 confirmed cases, up more than 5,000 since Tuesday morning. That is more than 7 percent of the 431,000 cases worldwide tallied by The New York Times. There have been 285 deaths in the state.
Officials reported late Wednesday that New York City had added 3,223 new confirmed cases since the morning, bringing the city’s total to 20,011. The death tally stood at 280, up from 199 in the morning.
State officials project they will need 30,000 ventilators, of which they currently have 4,000. But the state is making headway: Mr. Cuomo said 7,000 more ventilators have been procured, in addition to 4,000 ventilators sent by the federal government.
The governor said about 40,000 health care professionals, including retirees, have volunteered to work when hospitals become strained. Almost half are nurses.
More than 3,800 people are currently hospitalized, or 12 percent of all confirmed cases. Of those, 888 people are currently in intensive care.
Virus rules let construction workers keep building luxury towers.
While life in New York City and the surrounding area has come to a screeching halt, the construction industry, one of the region’s main economic engines and biggest employers, is humming along as if nothing has changed.
Laborers work side by side, cramming 20-people deep into service elevators and sharing the same portable restroom.
While Mr. Cuomo has told New Yorkers to stay indoors in a furious effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus, construction workers have been deemed essential employees, meaning they have to continue working even as most of the work force stays home.
Across the country, governors and mayors have urged roughly half of the United States — at least 179 million people — to stay home. The only people who should go outside, they say, are emergency responders and those considered essential, a wide-ranging term with different meanings in each state.
In New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and most of the country, construction workers have fallen into the essential category. In New York City, which had nearly 158,000 construction jobs in 2018, laborers are hauling hard hats and tools on nearly empty subways and trains every morning on the way to job sites.
“I’m essential to the pocketbooks of rich contractors and essential for spreading the virus, but that’s about it,” said Kirk Gibbs, 57, an electrician at a new parking garage in Syracuse, N.Y. “It’s not essential for us to be here right now.”