Coronavirus Cases Leap In NY, Most Westchester-Connected

UPDATE — There are 44 confirmed new coronavirus cases in New York state, 22 more than Thursday. The number rose by 11 between noon and 5 p.m. Friday.

Eight of the most recently announced cases are in Westchester County.

Earlier Friday, nine new cases were announced in Westchester and two in Rockland County. All were connected to a lawyer from New Rochelle who is hospitalized with the disease caused by the virus, COVID-19.

The most recent Westchester cases are a 12-year-old girl; three boys aged 7, 14 and 17; and men aged 45, 51, 55 and 82, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on social media.

"We suspect they are related to the existing cases," Cuomo said at a 4:45 p.m. news conference.

Of the 44 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

• Nassau County: 4
• Rockland County: 2
• New York City: 4
• Westchester County: 34

"We are continuing to test and the testing is now ramping up as we discussed earlier. So we have a greater capacity to test and we are turning around more tests," Cuomo said. "This is actually good news in some ways because it says the process is working. You get a case and you follow that case and you test that case because you want to find the people who were infected. You want to isolate those people so there is not continued spread. That is what this is all about. It is not a perfect process but the more people who you can tell are positive and stop them from infecting other people the better."

ALBANY, NY — The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New York state keeps rising. Thousands are self-isolating across the state, even as officials urged the public not to overreact with fear and anxiety.

"You have to separate the hype from the facts," Cuomo said at a news conference at noon.

All 11 new cases are connected to the New Rochelle man who is in intensive care, state officials said.

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As of noon, the new cases included three members of the Young Israel of New Rochelle congregation, two Rockland County residents who worked at a bar mitzvah at the synagogue and three people connected to the sick man's initial visit to the doctor, Cuomo said.

One of them is the rabbi who heads Young Israel in New Rochelle, according to Yeshiva University. State officials would not confirm his identity, citing patient confidentiality.

At noon, Cuomo said, 44 people were under mandatory quarantine across the state: 33 in Westchester, nine in New York City and one each in Nassau and Erie.

About 1,000 people in Westchester were in quarantine voluntarily, officials said, plus about 2,700 in New York City, 70 in Nassau and 15 in Suffolk.

Of the 33 confirmed cases, five were hospitalized. In New York City, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 80s tested positive and were sent to hospitals for intensive care, officials said Thursday morning.

Cuomo stressed he's not urging "calm," but rather "reality." More people continue to die from the flu than coronavirus, he said, pointing to the fact that five of the 33 sickened by COVID-19 have been hospitalized, or about 15 percent.

Cuomo likened the virus to a "flu on steroids," and said he remains most concerned about seniors and people with compromised immune systems.

"I've said all along senior citizens, for the flu or the coronavirus are the most vulnerable population," Cuomo said.

Worldwide, there have been more than 100,000 cases of coronavirus, known as COVID-19, spanning 79 countries, according to Johns Hopkins University. About 3,400 people have died. In the United States, coronavirus has killed at least 14 people and infected about 240 as of Friday morning, according to the organization. No deaths have been reported in New York.

SEE:

• New Rochelle Rabbi Tests Positive For Coronavirus
• Coronavirus Update In United States: Weekend Of March 6
• Coronavirus: Expert Offers Common-Sense Reasons Not To Panic