Just under 600 more New Yorkers have died of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday — a grim tally, but one that further suggests that contagion may have reached its apex in the state.
The contagion has now claimed 4,758 state residents, with 599 additional fatalities reported Monday, after 594 losses were logged Sunday and a record-high 630 on Saturday.
“The flattening — possible flattening — of the curve is better than the increases that we have seen,” said Cuomo in his daily Albany press briefing.
A total of 130,689 diagnoses have now been made in the state, a nearly five-digit rise from the 122,031 reported Sunday.
The governor first suggested on Sunday that the dreaded apex may be upon New York, as daily deaths dropped, though it remains to be seen just how long the rate will plateau before entering a sustained decline.
Longtime Cuomo aide Dr. Jim Malatras agreed that New York may be turning a corner.
“This could suggest that we are indeed, potentially, at the apex,” said Malatras, while cautioning that this is far from over. “It looks like we are towards the earlier side of the projection.”
If the disease is, indeed, hitting its apex, it comes just in time for New York’s overtaxed hospitals, said Cuomo.
“This is a hospital system where we have our foot to the floor,” said Cuomo. “The engine is at redline, and you can’t go any faster.
“You can’t stay at redline for any period of time, because the system will blow.”