NY Coronavirus Death Toll Breaks New Record With 799 Lives Lost

NEW YORK CITY — New York broke its new coronavirus death toll record for the third day in a row with 799 lives lost in just 24 hours, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.

The statewide death toll rose to 7,067, more than double the lives lost during the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, Cuomo said.

"That is so shocking and painful and breathtaking," Cuomo said. "It was a silent explosion that ripples through society with the same randomness and the same evil as 9/11."

To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in NYC, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.

As of Wednesday evening, 4,260 New York City dwellers had lost their lives to COVID-19, 20,474 were hospitalized and 80,204 tested positive, Health department data shows.

Cuomo cushioned the blow of the painful news by noting state health department data shows hospitalization and ICU admittance rates have continued to drop.

New COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped to 200 on April 8, the lowest number since March 18, days after reaching a 1, 427 peak.

ICU admissions dropped to 84, down from a 395 peak and intubations dropped to 88 down from 351, the data show.

But Dr. Craig Spencer — the Columbia University doctor who famously survived Ebola — warned New Yorkers those numbers might be a sign of a grimmer truth.

"It may also mean that hospitals are near capacity, so ERs are discharging patients we would’ve absolutely admitted a week or two ago," Spencer tweeted Tuesday.

"Which is what I’m seeing & hearing from my frontline colleagues throughout the city."

Coronavirus In NYC: Latest Happenings And Guidance

Email PatchNYC@patch.com or to reach a Patch reporter or fill out this anonymous form to share your coronavirus stories. All messages are confidential.