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There are now 76 cases of the novel coronavirus in New York State, with 57 of them in Westchester, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a news conference on Saturday, March 7.
Cuomo said he made an emergency declaration to give the state more powers to respond to the outbreak.
The latest breakdown in New York by county is as follows:
- Westchester County: 57
- New York City: 11
- Nassau County: 4
- Rockland County: 2
- Saratoga County: 2
Westchester now accounts for 75 percent of those currently testing positive in New York.
Click here to watch a video of the news conference
The new Westchester cases are believed to be linked to the first case in the county, that of a 50-year-old lawyer who lives in New Rochelle, as was the situation with all the previous 34 cases in the county prior to Saturday, Cuomo said.
"Westchester is an obvious problem for us," Cuomo said. "They talk about the contagion being in clusters and clusters tend to infect more and more people."
Cuomo said he spoke to Westchester County Executive George Latimer, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, Congresswoman Nita Lowey and State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins about possibly extending quarantine periods.
Special attention is being devoted to nursing homes and senior care facilities in the county, Cuomo said.
Ten people of the 76 are hospitalized, Cuomo said.
All the Nassau County cases are believed to be related to the county's first case, which was announced on Thursday, March 5 - a part-time hospital worker in the county. There were no new cases reported on Long Island from Friday, March 6 to Saturday.
Saratoga County saw its first two cases, marking the first in New York outside the New York City metropolitan area.
Testing has been done around the clock, Cuomo said.
"We are following the infection tree," Cuomo said. "We want to find positives so we don't find anyone else.
"We are sending mixed messages when we give these numbers. People say 'Oh no, more people have it.' But we say the more tests, the better because then you can isolate them and slow the spread. That's been the focus."
Cuomo said the numbers in New Rochelle have been expanded "the way we've seen in other clusters in the country."
He said expanding the closing of schools in New Rochelle is possible, along with cancellations of large gatherings and a ban of outside visitors to nursing homes.
Cuomo also directed the New York State Department of State's Consumer Protection Division to launch an investigation into reports of unfair price increases of consumer products such as household cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer and announced a toll-free hotline - 1-800-697-1220 - for New Yorkers to report suspected price gouging.
This state of emergency declaration allows, among other things:
Expedited procurement of cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer and other essential resources
- Allowing qualified professionals other than doctors and nurses to conduct testing
- Expedited procurement of testing supplies and equipment
- Expedited personnel onboarding
- Expedited leasing of lab space
- Allowing EMS personnel to transport patients to quarantine locations other than just hospitals
- Providing clear basis for price gouging and enforcement investigation
A total of 100,000 have tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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