‘We Underestimated Coronavirus’ – New York Gov Admits

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  • Confirmed cases cross 75,700 mark
  • Gov’s brother tests positive
Gov of New York State, Andrew Cuomo

As the deadly coronavirus continues to leave telling blows across cities and countries around the globe, Governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday admitted that officials had “underestimated” COVID-19 and needed to prepare for the apex of the outbreak now.

“I’m tired of being behind this virus. We’ve been behind this virus from day one,” Andrew Cuomo told a news briefing.

“We underestimated this virus. It’s more powerful, it’s more dangerous than we expected.”

Coronavirus cases surged to 75,795 in New York, while the death toll jumped nearly 30 per cent overnight to 1,550, Cuomo said, warning that the state was “still headed up the mountain.”

The new cases mean New York has surpassed China’s Hubei province which reported 67,801 cases since the virus emerged there in December, according to John Hopkins University data.

The New York governor also said his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, had tested positive for coronavirus.

“He’s going to be quarantined in his basement at home,” Cuomo said of his brother, after calling the virus a “great equaliser”.

The governor said the health care system was “dealing with a war we’ve never dealt with before,” and that doctors and nurses were facing “immense physical and emotional stress.”

Governor Cuomo also decried the current ‘eBay’-style bidding war for ventilators, noting that the state is clearly in a race against time to secure enough breathing machines for coronavirus patients

Cuomo, who condemned the US Federal government for fueling an “eBay”-style bidding war for ventilators as the coronavirus outbreak intensifies, said New York remains the worst-hit state, with nearly 76,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 1,550 deaths.

He said the state government is racing against time to secure enough breathing machines before an infection apex, expected in the next 14 to 21 days.

The lights of New York City’s Empire State Building began shining red on Monday to honour “emergency workers on the front line of the fight” against the virus, according to a post from the iconic building’s Twitter account.

In the United States, there have been more than 3,400 deaths and some 165,900 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to reports released by Johns Hopkins University. – With Agency reports

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