By Friday night, the bruised Big Apple had its biggest spike in coronavirus cases and deaths in a single, 24-hour period since the outbreak hit New York last month, New York Post reports.
A staggering 6,582 additional people tested positive for the deadly bug since Thursday evening, bringing the city’s total confirmed cases to 56,289. Another 305 New Yorkers died from the virus, pushing the death toll up to 1,867.
More than 1,100 more coronavirus patients were hospitalized in the past day. Currently 11,739 people are in local hospitals. The city’s ICU capacity is at 88 percent with just 370 beds left unfilled.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday, just before the new statistics were released, that the coming days will be even darker.
“This Friday afternoon we are beginning a race against time as we prepare for next week,” the mayor said during a press briefing.
“If we’re gonna save every life we can save, we need the supplies, the equipment, the PPE,” he said. “We need more than ever the personnel, the people, the doctors, the nurses that will help us through this fight. We need the beds.”
Thursday morning Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported an even higher figure for the city cases — 57,159 compared to 56,289. His spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, explained the discrepancy.
“All these numbers are moments in time, and our system is: the labs put in the results and occasionally a minor mistake is made and they go back and correct it. The one thing that is not in doubt is the scope of the problem and the fact that we are heading towards an apex in New York,” Azzopardi said.
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