ALBANY, N.Y. _ New York reported its lowest number of coronavirus deaths statewide on Thursday as 42 people died from the respiratory illness, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.
Eight weeks ago, at the height of the crisis, the state was reporting nearly 800 deaths a day. Hospitalizations are also down to 2,728 from the record high of 18,825 during the peak of the pandemic, according to the governor.
Cuomo attributed the drop in deaths and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 to New Yorkers adhering to social distancing rules and wearing masks in public.
"I did nothing. The people of the state radically changed how they behaved, and look at that progress: lowest number of hospitalizations to date in a matter of weeks," Cuomo said during a briefing in Albany. "Today's achievement is proof we know we can change, and we know we can change dramatically when we work together."
Statewide, 24,175 people had died of the virus since New York City became the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.
As of Wednesday, 2,293,032 New Yorkers have been tested for the virus as the state has ramped up its testing efforts. Of those people tested, 375,133 have tested positive.
The city is on track to enter the first phase of the state's reopening plan on Monday, although officials have warned that confrontations between police and civil rights protesters could lead to an uptick in coronavirus cases.
On Thursday, Cuomo encouraged anyone who attended a recent protest in the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis to get tested.
"Many of them wear masks, thank God, but there's no social distancing," he said of the demonstrators. "You look at the encounters with the police, the police are right in their face, they're right in the face of the police. Twenty thousand protesters in New York City. Thousand protesters on Long Island. These are big numbers."
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday that he wants every New Yorker to get a free coronavirus test because of the large number of people protesting and announced mobile test sites will be available in the outer boroughs.
