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Globally, there have been 360,096 confirmed cases of coronavirus, which resulted in 15,485 deaths. In New York, there were more than 5,700 new positive cases of coronavirus confirmed overnight, bringing the state’s total to 20,875, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday, March 23.
Nassau and Suffolk counties have been among the hardest hit in the state, with 2,442 cases and 1,458 confirmed cases, respectively. There have been nine deaths in Nassau - including two new cases, both of whom had underlying health concerns, and 13 reported deaths in Suffolk.
The most COVID-19 cases in Suffolk County have been reported in Huntington, Islip, Babylon, Brookhaven, Southold, and Smithtown, all of which have more than 50 confirmed cases.
Supplies have been in short supply, according to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who has been working on supply drives for personal protective equipment, which led to the acquisition of 40,000 gloves, 3,000 N-95 masks, 1,500 gowns, and 3,000 surgical masks in one day.
“It is unfortunate that we have to continue to report that people have died from the virus,” a somber Bellone said over the weekend. “It seems like we’re getting a daily reminder here why we are doing this. If we are successful in bending the curve, then a significant number of lives will be safe.
Cuomo said that the entire state has been busy securing emergency supplies for hospital workers, including 339,760 N-95 masks; 861,700 surgical masks; 353,500 gloves; 145,122 gowns and 197,085 face shields.
“We need to increase hospital capacity as quickly as we can so that at the apex of the wave you have the hospital capacity to take care of the vulnerable people we’ve been talking about,” he said. “We’re not going to be able to control the spread of the virus, but you can reduce the rate of the spread so that you can handle it in your hospital system.”
New York’s 20,875 cases - which resulted in 157 deaths - are more than ten times more New Jersey (1,914 cases); California (1,849); Washington (1,844) and Illinois (1,049). Of the 20,875 cases in New York, 2,645 (13 percent) were hospitalized, with 621 patients in the ICU.
Cuomo is also calling on hospitals to increase their capacity with a spike in visits connected to coronavirus expected. He is also planning to craft a temporary hospital setting in Stony Brook to increase the number of available beds on Long Island.
“I’m issuing an emergency order to hospitals that says, ‘you must increase your capacity by 50 percent,’” the governor said. “We need to find more beds and use more rooms. We know it might be unreasonable to ask hospitals to double their capacity, but we don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask them to try and increase by 100 percent capacity.”
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