A glimmer of hope.
On Sunday, New York City — which was once considered to be the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States — reported zero COVID-19 deaths for the first time since the pandemic struck in March, according to initial data collected from the N.Y.C. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Reporting delays could lead the data to change, however.
Officials also recorded no confirmed deaths the day before as well, but did report two probable deaths, per NBC4.
The revelation marked the end of a four-month span since the city reported its first coronavirus fatality back in mid-March, marking a turning point that comes as the virus continues to spike in other parts of the country.
The city has reported an overall total of 215,924 cases and 18,670 confirmed deaths, according to data that was last updated on Sunday afternoon. New York City also reported a total of 4,613 probable cases and previously hit its peak in terms of confirmed daily deaths from the health crisis on April 7, with 597 deaths.
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But even as New York continues to make tremendous progress on containing the outbreak, the virus has surged in states including Florida.
On Sunday, Florida reported a new single-day record of coronavirus cases with over 15,000, according to the state’s Department of Health.
Florida has at least 269,811 confirmed cases in total and has also reported 45 additional deaths from the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 4,346.
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned on Friday that the spikes in other parts of the country could end up leading to the virus once again increasing in New York.
“You’re going to see our numbers and the Northeast numbers probably start to increase because the virus that you see now in the South and the West — California has real trouble — it’s going to come back here,” Cuomo said in a radio interview. “It is going to come back here. It’s like being on a merry-go-round. It’s totally predictable. And we’re going to go through an increase. I can feel it coming. And it is so unnecessary and so cruel.”
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