New York State identified 3,254 new coronavirus infections Saturday, bringing the state’s total over 10,000, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.
There are now 10,356 cases statewide.
In New York City, now the epicenter of the crisis, 1,803 infections were identified since Friday, bringing the new total to 6,211.
Those totals are going to rise as more testing is done, Cuomo said.
“That is the widespread increase that we have been anticipating,” the governor said, repeating that the more testing that is done, the more cases will be identified.
Cuomo added that the increase in identified cases in Westchester — where the state’s first major outbreak was located — is slowing.
“That is good news,” the governor said, stating that the original “containment zone” set up in the area is working.
The state has now performed 45,437 tests, more than the 23,200 done in California and the 23,343 in Washington State, where the nation’s initial outbreak was identified. More testing means that more people will be identified, but those people can be isolated to help slow the spread of the virus. “We are testing more per capita than China and South Korea,” Cuomo said.
The governor also said that 1 million N-95 masks, the kind that are most protective for health care workers, are on the way to the city to handle the crunch. Another 500,000 are on the way to Long Island, where confirmed infections are spiking. Nassau County has 1,234 cases, up 480 from Friday. Suffolk County has 662 cases, up from 291.
Cuomo said there are enough masks available upstate to meet the need. “New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, that’s the locus of the problem,” he said.
The state and Army Corps of Engineers have identified several spaces where temporary hospitals may be set up, including the Javits Center in Manhattan, SUNY Stonybrook, SUNY Westbury on Long Island and the Westchester Convention Center.
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