NEW: Gov. Cuomo Says NY Now Only 4 to 8 Days From Covid-19 Peak But ‘We’re Not Yet Ready’ For It
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday that the state is “getting close” to the “apex” of new infections of the Covid-19 coronavirus, and put the state in the less than two-week range for that top of the curve. But the state isn’t ready for it yet, he said.
“We’ve been talking about hitting the apex. The apex is the point where the number of infections on a daily basis is at the high point, and that is the ultimate challenge for the healthcare system,” said Cuomo. “Can we handle that number of cases at the high point of the curve? I call it the battle of the Mountaintop because that’s what it’s going to be. That’s going to be the number one point of engagement of the enemy.”
Cuomo stressed that the state is not yet there, and that he can’t pin down a projected date, but that most of the models, and his team’s reading of the data, says it will come in the next 4 to 8 days.
“By the numbers we’re not yet at the apex. We’re getting closer. Depending on whose model you look at, they’ll say four, five, six, seven days. Some people go out 14 days. But our reading of the projections is, we’re somewhere in the 7-say range — four, five, six, seven, eight-day range — nobody can give you a specific number, which makes it very frustrating to plan, when they can’t give you a specific number or specific date. But we’re in that range. ”
“So we’re not yet at the apex,” he continued. “Part of me would like to be at the apex and just, let’s do it. But there’s part of me that says it’s good that we’re not at the apex because we’re not yet ready for the apex, either.”
“We’re not get ready for the high point. We’re still working on the capacity of the system. The more time we have to improve the capacity of the system the better, and the capacity of the healthcare system, beds, staff, equipment,” said Cuomo. He explained that the state is holding a conference call with hospitals on Saturday to address the issues related to preparing for that peak of infections.
Almost half of fatalities from the coronavirus in the United States are from New York. Over 10,000 new cases were reported on Friday.
