Cuomo: New York coronavirus hospitalizations drop below 10K for first time since March

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Sunday that the total number of coronavirus hospitalizations in the state fell below 10,000 for the first time since mid-March. 

Cuomo reported at his daily press conference that the number of hospitalizations dropped to 9,786, after remaining above 10,000 throughout April.

The number of new hospitalizations also decreased to 789 on Saturday.

NEW: Total hospitalizations for COVID-19 in New York State dips below 10,000 for first time since March, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. https://t.co/BDo8ZObGLI pic.twitter.com/rUx0NHcshT

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 3, 2020

The governor cautioned on Sunday, however, that any one-day report could represent an anomaly.

“That may be just a reporting anomaly because this is over the weekend, and the weekend reporting tends to be a little different,” he said.

“So I wouldn’t bet the farm on any of these specific one-day numbers, but the overall trend is good,” he added. 

The number of new fatalities in New York also fell to 280 on Saturday from 299 on Friday. Cuomo called the death toll “tremendously distressing.”

“That number has not moved dramatically in a relatively long period of time, but the overall direction is good even though it’s very painful,” he said.

New York has been hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, with the state accounting for a total of 312,977 positive cases and 18,909 fatalities, according to the state health department. 

While other states across the country are making moves to reopen, New York has remained shut down. The governor has announced plans to reopen “low-risk” businesses starting as soon as mid-May, but has not predicted a date for restrictions to end.