New York state, the epicenter of the coronavirus in the U.S., has reported more cases of the virus than the most-affected countries in Europe as of Wednesday, per data from the state and Johns Hopkins.
Why it matters: New York again broke its record on Wednesday for its highest COVID-19 death toll in a single day, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. But hospitalizations are going down as the "curve" of coronavirus spread flattens, he said.
By the numbers: New York state has reported 149,316 cases as of Wednesday, while Spain has reported 148,200 and Italy has reported 139,422.
What he's saying: Cuomo said on Wednesday that the number of deaths would continue to rise "as those hospitalized for a longer period of time pass away." But he said there's "no doubt that we are now bending the curve and there's no doubt that we can't stop doing what we're doing."
- "It's not a time to get complacent. It's not a time to do anything different than we've been doing," he said.
- "Remember what happened in Italy when the entire health care system became overrun. So we have to remain diligent, we have to remain disciplined going forward. There's no doubt that we are now bending the curve and there's no doubt that we can't stop doing what we're doing."
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