The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States reached 711,197 on Saturday. 37,309 Americans have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University. Still, some states are starting to relax their lockdown orders, and some are still not convinced the virus has hit its peak.
Governor Cuomo on Saturday announced 540 new coronavirus deaths in New York State, 36 of them in nursing homes. Which is down from 630 a day earlier this week. In his daily coronavirus briefing in Albany, the governor said NY State is seeing some progress in the fight against the virus that has killed 14,636 state residents as of Saturday.
“If you look at the past three days, you could argue we are past the plateau and starting to descend,” Cuomo said. “So we’re not at the plateau anymore, but we’re still not in a good position.”
Of course, the crisis is far from over, the governor emphasized.
Holding a briefing with updates on . Watch Live: https://t.co/Ve9pC6fDBa
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo)
“Nursing homes are the single biggest fear in all of this. Vulnerable people in one place — it is the feeding frenzy for this virus, despite everything we can do and the best efforts of people working in those nursing homes,” the governor said.
New York City is opening testing sites in all five boroughs, prioritizing those most at risk. This includes essential workers and those over 65 with pre-existing conditions. Appointment only. Call 1-888-ONEMED1 or go to onemedical.com and use code NYCCARE30.
Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Friday night: “Everyone has the same question: when can we get back to normal? When can we get our lives back? We will move heaven and Earth to get us there but right now that means we keep practicing the strategies that have worked. Stay home and keep social distancing.”
In Israel
Meanwhile, in Israel, the Health Ministry reported five new deaths since Saturday morning, 164 severe cases of the coronavirus, out of whom 113 are on ventilators. 13,265 cases have been diagnosed as of Saturday, and 3,456 have recovered.
Notably, this is the second day in a row where more people have recovered (330) than have gotten sick (284) in Israel.
Jerusalem has recorded 2,281 cases of the coronavirus, 32 since Friday. Bnei Brak 1,950 cases, 17 new. Tel Aviv, whose population is the second largest next to the capital, has only 277 cases, with 17 recoveries on Saturday. El’ad, population 47,866, a largely Haredi city, has 270 diagnosed cases, with 6 recoveries.
According to a report by Yishai Cohen of Kikar Hashabbat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the heads of the Haredi political parties that 60% of those infected with Coronavirus are Ultra-Orthodox.”
ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו בשיחות עם ראשי הסיעות החרדיות: ״60% מחולי הקורונה בישראל – חרדים״.
— ישי כהן (@ishaycoen)