Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday said that with 42 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, the city recorded the lowest number of daily deaths since the pandemic hit the state, the epicentre of the disease outbreak in the US.
During a daily briefing, Cuomo said, “While our hearts ache for those families who lost loved ones yesterday, just eight weeks ago, we had 800 deaths per day”.
Meanwhile, the number of total hospitalizations was down on Thursday to 2,728 from a record-high of 18,825 during the peak of the pandemic.
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The Governor said the progress is made through people’s change of behaviour.
“Today’s achievement is proof we know we can change, and we know we can change dramatically when we work together,” he said.
The state is now encouraging people who attended the recent protests against the death of African-American man, George Floyd to receive COVID-19 diagnostic tests to avoid a resurgence of infections.
“One person can infect hundreds. If you were at a protest, go get a test, please. The protesters have a civic duty here also,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo shut down the entire state March 22 as the New York City area emerged as a global pandemic hot spot, but the outbreak has been less severe in the state’s smaller cities and rural areas.
New York’s first tentative steps toward reopening follow other states that have already relaxed restrictions last month.
Meanwhile, the total number of global coronavirus has increased to over 6.7 million, while the death toll has topped 394,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
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