25 percent of US coronavirus testing occurring in NY, Cuomo says

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About 25 percent of the nation’s testing for novel coronavirus has occurred in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday, adding that the state’s new case count had surpassed 20,000. He said that 5,707 new cases had been confirmed overnight, and that, in total, the state had tested 78,289 people.

"In 10 days we went from testing 1,000 per day to 16,000 per day," he said in the press conference. "That's more than any other state in the U.S. is testing — that's more per capita than South Korea, which was the gold standard of testing — they were doing 20,000 per day on a much larger population, about double the population of New York."

CORONAVIRUS IN US: STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN

Cuomo said the state's number of positive cases are higher "because we're doing more tests."

"Many will get it, but few will be in serious danger," Cuomo said of the virus.

So far, New York has seen at least 157 deaths across the state.

Officials later said about 600 patients in the state are currently in the ICU.

Cuomo also said that supplies such as masks and gowns have become available and would be provided to hospitals currently experiencing a shortage.

“We just were successful in getting more and today, we can get masks to anyone who needs them, and gowns,” Cuomo said, adding that it would be up to the federal government--which he made a point of complimenting on its assistance--to end the ad-hoc bidding between states for supplies to ensure that supplies would continue to be available.

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In the same press conference, Cuomo said he was ordering hospitals to increase their capacity by 50 percent in order to accommodate more patients and beds. He also said about 30,000 retired medical professionals had already answered officials' calls to help in the COVID-19 response.