New York is wrapping up its worst week in deaths so far of the outbreak, but there were a few signs of hope
3 min read
NEW YORK —
New York is wrapping up its worst week in deaths so far of the coronavirus outbreak, but there were a few signs of hope.
THE NUMBERS
At the end of the day Friday, there were 18,654 people hospitalized with the virus in the state. That was up only 85 since the previous day.
The bad news has been that large numbers of people are still dying every day. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that 783 people died Friday, the fifth day in a row that the toll topped 700. The figures raised the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state to 8,627.
WILL SCHOOLS STAY CLOSED?
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio is doubling down on his plan to close schools in the nation’s largest district, despite confusion over his authority to do so.
De Blasio announced Saturday that the public school sites in the city’s 1.1 million-student school district would close for the rest of the academic year to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Cuomo countered that the decision was his to make.
“We were quite certain it was the right thing to do,” de Blasio said Sunday when asked about the conflict.
De Blasio said his goal to reopen school sites by September, adding that high school graduates may have to go without a commencement ceremony. But Cuomo said school closings would have to be coordinated with districts surrounding the city.
HOTELS FOR THE HOMELESS
De Blasio says the city is going forward with a plan to move a total of 6,000 homeless people from shelters to commercial hotels to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The plan involves moving people who have tested positive for the virus or those showing COVID-19 symptoms. The effort is also is meant to thin out shelters where it’s “difficult to achieve social distancing,” the mayor said.
The city says 20 homeless people have died from the virus, 19 of whom were hospitalized when they died. There are about 58,000 people in the shelter system and another 4,000 or so on city streets.
AN EMPTY ST. PATRICK’S ON EASTER
The coronavirus pandemic means that this Easter Sunday, there will be no congregants in the pews at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan will lead a televised Mass in a broadcast expected to draw a large audience.
The Archdiocese of New York says fewer than 600 people would tune in to watch the cathedral’s Sunday Mass live streams before the pandemic. That number was up to more than 100,000 on Palm Sunday.