New York at the preliminary high point of the corona pandemic: while the number of victims is rising sharply, even a church is now being converted into a hospital. But Governor Cuomo sees light at the end of the tunnel.
New York (dpa) - At the preliminary climax of the corona crisis in New York, the particularly hard-hit US state recorded 731 deaths in just one day. In total, the death toll was around 5,500, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo at his daily press conference.
Around 600 patients had died in the state in the past few days. However, the governor gave hope because of other, declining numbers - especially the newly admitted patients: "As far as we can see there is a flattening (the curve) or a possible plateau. It is because of what we are doing and we have to keep doing. " New York, with its almost 20 million inhabitants, has had strict exit restrictions for weeks.
In the meantime, in the metropolis of the same name, all possible buildings continue to be converted into emergency clinics, for example the St. John the Divine cathedral. Tents for up to 200 patients are to be set up in the almost 200-meter-long nave, local media reported on Tuesday, citing Dean Clifton Daniel. The underlying crypt is also to be used. The approximately 100-year-old episcopal church in northwest Manhattan is one of the largest Gothic churches in the world.
The state of New York with a total of around 19 million inhabitants is currently the epicenter of the USA in the corona crisis. The number of cases there is many times higher than in other countries - also because there is significantly more testing there. The number of confirmed cases is more than 138,000.
Meanwhile, US media stressed that the death toll in New York City in the crisis exceeded that of the September 11 terrorist attacks. At that time, almost 3,000 people died. According to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, more than 1,000 people have also died in neighboring New Jersey.
The police officers in New York City are particularly affected. At least twelve employees have already died in connection with suspected coronavirus infections, the news channel CNN reported on Tuesday. More than 2,000 other employees are infected with the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen. At a press conference on Monday evening (local time), Mayor Bill de Blasio emphasized that the situation was gradually improving. More and more police officers would report back to duty after surviving illnesses.