The coronavirus epidemic in New York State, the epicenter of the epidemic in the United States, has for the first time begun a “downward” curve, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday, while calling for not to relax containment measures.
“All indications are that we are in a descending phase,” said the governor during his daily press briefing on the epidemic, nevertheless calling for caution.
“The continuation of this decline will depend on what we do,” said Cuomo, who recently extended the containment measures until May 15.
“We must remain smart and coordinated”, “not to compromise” the progress made, he insisted, while demonstrations have multiplied across the United States to demand the end of containment measures and the revival of economical activities.
This state of some 20 million people has already recorded some 236,000 confirmed cases of the virus, nearly a third of all American cases, and more than 13,000 deaths, according to the latest figures available.
In the past 24 hours, the state has further deplored 507 deaths. This figure is nevertheless the lowest since April 2. On April 9, a daily death record was reached with 799 dead.
The governor also announced massive serology tests across the state next week to determine “exactly how many people have been infected with the virus.”
This measure should help determine the deconfinement strategy to adopt, a strategy that the governor stressed to coordinate with five other states in the northeast of the United States: New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island.
In a message that seemed to implicitly target President Donald Trump, accused of stirring up opposition to containment measures and pushing for a quick recovery in the economy, he stressed the importance of leaders “sending the right one.” message ”.
“Now is not the time to send different messages,” he said. “If people don’t trust their government, if they think it’s chaos, or confusion in our policies, that would be a terrible message to send.”
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