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The latest breakdown of the 44 cases in New York state by county is as follows:
- Westchester County: 34
- New York City: 4
- Nassau County: 4
- Rockland County: 2
In his first news gathering of the day at noontime in Albany, Cuomo announced the number of Westchester cases had risen to 26 and also announced the two new Rockland cases.
The three other new cases between noontime and late afternoon Friday were in Nassau County.
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.
The three new 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.
"I've said every day the number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus will keep going up, and as we expand our testing capacity we will only see that number continue to rise," Cuomo said. "We want to keep testing and finding more people who are testing positive because that's how you contain the outbreak - find the person who got infected, quarantine them and reduce the infection rate.
"At the same time, we want New Yorkers to go about their daily lives including planning vacations and other travel, and this action will allow them to do that at a time when there is still uncertainty about the future geographic impact of coronavirus."
Additionally, Cuomo announced travel insurance companies and travel agents will offer New York residents and businesses the ability to purchase coverage when making travel plans that would allow them to cancel a trip for any reason, including for reasons related to COVID-19.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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