At 442 Hudson Valley Cases, Coronavirus Turns Life 'Upside Down'

ALBANY, NY — Twelve New Yorkers have died and the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus grew to 1,374 cases, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday morning. The number of cases in the Hudson Valley included: Westchester: 380 (157 new); Rockland: 22 (9 new); Orange: 15 (4 new); Dutchess: 16 (6 new). While the governor did not give updated numbers for Putnam or Ulster counties, as of Monday at 3 p.m. Ulster had 7 cases and Putnam had 2.

Of the more than 5,000 cases in the United States so far, New York has the most.

"Life has turned upside down," the governor said during a media briefing in Albany, likening the feeling to shaking up a snow globe. "It is a frightening time on every level."

But, he said, 9/11 showed what New Yorkers, what Americans can do in tough times. "Be a little bit more compassionate. We will get through this."

The good news is that state's ability to test more people and get results more quickly is continuing to grow. Officials plan to open a drive-through test center in Rockland County soon, similar to the one opened last week in Westchester County, he said.

Increased testing leads to more confirmed cases. As testing ramps up in New York, 10,000 people have been tested and, since Monday, 432 new positive cases were confirmed statewide.

"The situation changes daily now which is expected," Cuomo said. "We have a plan, we're sticking with the plan. The first step was testing, the second was containment. They work together. The last part of the strategy is dealing with the health care system. That is where we're going to shift our emphasis, that is now our top priority."

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With 264 people hospitalized, New York's hospitalization rate is currently higher than the normal 15 percent by 4 points, which Cuomo said confirmed predictions that the state's hospital system will be overwhelmed by the virus officially known as COVID-19.

"There is a curve," Cuomo said. "I've said that curve is going to turn into a wave and the wave is going to crash on the hospital system."

The peak is expected in about 45 days and the state will need between 55,000 and 110,000 hospital beds, Cuomo said.

That includes a need for 18,000 - 37,000 ICU beds, equipped with ventilators which are proving difficult to procure.

"That, my friends, is a problem," Cuomo said.

The lack of hospital beds is why Cuomo will likely order greater restrictions on social interactions in the weeks to come, he said. But the governor denied rumors New York City might face a quarantine.

"It's possible we will be doing more dramatic closings," said Cuomo. "I have no plan whatsoever to contain New York City."

The containment zone imposed in New Rochelle last week was misunderstood, he said. The 1-mile zone restricted large gatherings in an attempt to slow down the spread of the coronavirus in the state's earliest and most intense cluster of cases.

"There was no cordon around the neighborhood," he said. "Everyone could come and go.
The containment was for the virus."

Patch Editor Kathleen Culliton contributed to this report.

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