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But on Monday, for the second day in a row, officials found reasons for hope even as hundreds of people continued to die and thousands clung to life on ventilators. On both Sunday and Monday, fewer than 600 deaths from the virus were reported in New York: 594 on Sunday, 599 on Monday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said. Mr. Cuomo said the data suggested that the spread of the virus in New York was nearing its apex, but he emphasized that the state remained in a dire, unsustainable state of emergency. “If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a very high level and there is tremendous stress on the health care system,” he said.
Here were the latest numbers from the day:
Deaths in New York State: 4,758, up 599 from 4,159 on Sunday morning.
Confirmed cases: 130,689, up from 122,031 in New York.
Hospitalized in New York State: 16,837, up 2 percent from 16,479 on Sunday. It was the third straight day of single-digit percentage growth, after a long period when hospitalizations were growing 20 to 30 percent a day.
In intensive care: 4,504, up 2 percent from 4,376 on Sunday. The day-over-day increase, 128, was the smallest in at least two weeks. Last week, the number of people in intensive care beds, which have ventilators, was growing by more than 300 people a day.
In New York City, officials said later on Monday that the number of virus cases had reached 68,766, that an estimated 15,333 virus patients were hospitalized and that the death toll was 2,738.
Even if the infection curve is flattening, the virus’s daily toll remains horrific.
New York City reported a one-day total of 219 deaths on Monday morning, bringing the city’s death toll to 2,475.
In a notable shift from previous weeks, when he pleaded for more ventilators from the federal government and other states, he said New York was now adequately stocked.
Later in the day, Mr. Cuomo said in an interview on MSNBC that President Trump had approved his request for the U.S.N.S. Comfort, a 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship that arrived in New York last week, to begin treating virus patients.
In New Jersey, Gov. Philip D. Murphy reported 71 reported deaths on Monday, and 86 on Sunday, after a three-day streak when deaths had broken triple digits. And in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday reported a one-day death toll of 17, the smallest number since last Wednesday.
Donald Trump's top economic adviser Peter Navarro warned White House officials in January and February that coronavirus could kill up to two million Americans and cost the economy $5.7 Trillion
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President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro issued his first grim warning in a memo dated January 29 - just days after the first COVID-19 cases were reported in the US. At the time, Trump was publicly downplaying the risk that the novel coronavirus posed to Americans - though weeks later he would assert that no one could have predicted the devastation seen today. Navarro penned a second memo about a month later on February 23, in which he warned that as many as two million Americans could die from the virus as it tightened its grip on the nation. The memos were obtained by the New York Times and Axios on Monday, as the number of COVID-19 cases nationwide surpassed 368,200 with at least 11,000 deaths. |
Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain has been moved to intensive care.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved into intensive care on Monday, a worrisome turn in his 10-day battle with the coronavirus and the starkest evidence yet of how the virus has threatened the British political establishment and thrown its new government into upheaval.
In a sign of how grave the situation had become, Downing Street said in a statement on Monday that Mr. Johnson had asked the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, to deputize for him “where necessary.” The pound fell against the dollar after investors reacted to the news.
After noting earlier in the day that the prime minister was still getting official papers, Mr. Johnson’s aides said he had been moved to the intensive care unit in case he needed a ventilator to help his recovery. Not every patient in critical care is ventilated, medical experts said, but many are — or are at least given oxygen. Mr. Johnson remains conscious, officials said.
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Worried that $2 trillion law wasn’t enough, Trump and congressional leaders converge on need for new coronavirus economic package
Political leaders say more aid is needed to confront mounting economic problems
Congressional leaders and the White House are converging on the need for a new assistance package to try to contain the coronavirus pandemic’s economic devastation, fearful that a $2 trillion bailout law enacted last month will have only a limited effect.
House Democrats are eyeing a package of spending increases that would “easily” cost more than $1 trillion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told lawmakers Monday, according to two officials on the conference call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it. Democrats are looking to extend unemployment aid and small-business assistance for additional months, as well as authorize another round of direct checks to taxpayers.
Trump has signaled support for some of the ideas that Democrats back, such as expanded help for small-business owners and new bailout checks for households. Republican leaders, meanwhile, have also called for more corporate aid and money to boost the overwhelmed health-care system.
Although there is some overlap in the political ideas, significant differences remain, and it’s unclear whether the sides will be able to reach a deal in the coming weeks. In a sign that lawmakers might be preparing to cut a deal, Pelosi has backed away from some of her recent proposals that Republicans found most objectionable, including a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he believes that Congress will have to act again to address health-care needs, among other things, opening the door to a pact. The two leaders spoke Thursday.
Their work to mobilize new legislation came amid growing signs that the economy is deteriorating much faster than expected and that the initial $2 trillion law is proving insufficient. Former Federal Reserve chair Janet L. Yellen told Pelosi and House Democrats on their conference call that the actual unemployment rate is probably 13 percent, not the 4.4 percent the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
Households and businesses are confronting so much turmoil that the new assistance programs are overwhelmed. State unemployment offices have been bombarded with people seeking help. And Bank of America said Monday that it had received 178,000 applications from firms seeking $32.9 billion in loans as companies clamor to qualify for the $349 billion Small Business Administration program.
The Senate has tentatively scheduled votes for the week of April 20, and the House leadership has also targeted that week for potential votes. But aides say the legislative schedule is entirely dependent on the course of the pandemic and whether the two chambers and Trump can come together on workable legislation.
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As the virus spreads, crime plunges across New York
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Crime has plummeted in New York City and across the state since the governor announced a stay-at-home order more than three weeks ago, data released on Monday shows.
In New York City, the number of felony and misdemeanor cases dropped a collective 43.3 percent from March 18 to March 24, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
All other regions in the state experienced an even greater decline over the same period: a drop of nearly 69 percent in misdemeanors and felonies.
Saudi Arabia locks down more cities amid steep increase in infections
Saudi Arabia announced late Monday that nine more cities would be added to the list of those on 24-hour lockdown, including the the capital, Riyadh, and the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
Previously just the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, international pilgrimage destinations that had seen large numbers of cases, were subjected to these 24-hour curfews, along with some Jeddah neighborhoods. The rest of the country just had to stay inside at night.