NYC Has More Than 5K Coronavirus Cases With 29 Deaths

NEW YORK CITY — More than 5,000 New York City residents have tested positive for novel coronavirus and 29 people had died as of Friday morning, according to the Mayor's office.

As of 10 a.m. Friday, there were 5,151 COVID-19 cases confirmed in New York City with 1,518 in Brooklyn, 1,314 in Manhattan, 1,406 cases in Queens, 667 in The Bronx and 242 on Staten Island.

The Mayor's office did not have related figures for hospitalizations or intensive care unit cases as of 3:45 p.m.

The quickly rising numbers spurred Gov. Andrew Cuomo Friday morning to issue a statewide stay-at-home order that will go into effect Sunday night.

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Cuomo's "Pause" policy means only necessary tasks — such as buying groceries or walking the dog — will be allowed of New Yorkers who are not providing essential services.

The governor explained that a shortage of ventilators and medical supplies as the case numbers rapidly increased made the new policy necessary.

"The only option available to us is to reduce the spread," he said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday the city could run out of needed medical supplies by early April if the federal government didn't immediately send 3 million N95 masks, 50 million surgical masks, 15,000 ventilators, 25 million surgical gowns, 25 million coveralls, 25 million gloves, 25 million face masks.

"If the federal government doesn't act immediately ... there will be people who die who didn't need to die," said de Blasio. "The federal government has two weeks."

The Health Department maintains a three month supply of hand sanitizer, roughly 19 million surgical masks and other emergency supplies, a Mayor's Office spokesperson told Patch.

As of Friday, the department currently has 14 million of those stockpiled surgical masks left, according to the Mayor's office.

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