Cuomo: New York Deaths May Be 'Plateauing'

It appears that the number of coronavirus deaths in New York state is beginning to flatten out. During his daily briefing Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state had recorded 599 more deaths since Sunday morning, reports the New York Times. That is slightly up from Saturday's 594 but down from Friday's 630, the highest figure so far. "If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a very high level,” said Cuomo. "Staying at this level is problematic." New York now has a total of 4,758 deaths. Another notable stat: The number of people in ICU rose from 4,376 on Sunday to 4,504, but that 2% increase was the smallest in two weeks.

“Have we saved everyone? No," said Cuomo. "But have we lost anyone because we didn’t have a bed or we didn’t have a ventilator, or we didn’t have health care staff? No." The briefing came after the chairman of the New York City council's health committee tweeted that the city might have to use a "NYC park for burials (yes you read that right)," reports Mediaite. "Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line," wrote Mark Levine. At his briefing, Cuomo said he had heard nothing about that "wild" plan. Cuomo also extended the state's stay-at-home order from April 15 to 29. (More coronavirus stories.)