New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday over the COVID-19 novel coronavirus as the number of confirmed cases skyrocketed to 89 across the state.
The declaration of emergency freed up $30 million to be used for expansion of testing and purchase of items such as masks and protective gear for healthcare workers, Cuomo said.
There were more than 300 confirmed cases of the virus across the United States as of Saturday, with 17 people who had died of the illness, according to the New York Post. The virus has infected more than 105,700 people and killed at least 3,460 people in at least 92 countries around the world.
There are 11 cases of COVID-19 in the city of New York, more than doubling the number of those who were diagnosed with the virus on Friday, the governor said at a news conference.
Outside the city there were 21 new cases, jumping from 44 cases on Friday to a total of 89 by Saturday night, according to The New York Times. Four of the cases are in Nassau County, and one case is in Far Rockaway. Two are in Rockland County.
At least 70 people in Westchester County were sick with the virus, many including many who were believed to be connected to 52-year-old Manhattan attorney Lawrence Garbuz, who now is believed to have contracted the virus in Westchester, and not while traveling in Miami as previously thought. Since then, his wife Adina and two of his children have tested positive, as did a neighbor who drove him to the hospital.
“We are testing aggressively. The more positives you find, the better,” he said, because once identified, those who are ill can be isolated and won’t continue to infect people.
He added that thousands of results from tests are still outstanding.