Positive tests for the coronavirus and deaths as a result of COVID-19 both continue to rise in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
The number of deaths as of shortly afternoon stood at 1,218, which is up from 965 yesterday. The number of people who have tested positive is 66,497, while 9,517 have been hospitalized and 2,352 are in the ICU.
On a positive note, 4,204 people who were treated for COVID-19 in the hospital have been released, up 632 from yesterday.
The governor held a briefing in the Javits Center after welcoming USNS Comfort, a Navy hospital ship that will relieve New York hospitals dealing with a rapidly expanding load of coronavirus patients.
The USNS Comfort will provide roughly 1,000 hospital beds, and 1,200 personnel to New York, Cuomo said. It will be used to treat patients who don’t have COVID-19 to free up other brick-and-mortar hospital rooms for coronavirus patients.
Cuomo also said that there is an unprecedented collaboration between hospitals across the state - public and private, upstate and down. "We have to work as one family...one health care system," the governor said, which will entail sharing resources and staff and having upstate facilities take overflow of patients from over-taxed downstate facilities.