Hudson Valley Coronavirus: Grim Death Toll Tops 471

New York on Tuesday saw its largest single-day increase in coronavirus-related deaths with more than 700. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the death toll in the state climbed to 5,489, up from 4,758 a day earlier.

In the lower Hudson Valley, there were an additional 123 deaths due to the virus reported between Saturday and Monday, according to the state health department's webpage.

• Dutchess County: 15 reported April 6, up from 12 reported April 4
• Orange County: 53, up from 37
• Putnam County: 16, up from 14
• Rockland County: 99, up from 71
• Ulster County: 5, up from 3
• Westchester County: 283, up from 211

Rockland County officials reported an additional 36 deaths Tuesday, bringing the local reported total to 135.

"Each and every death we are seeing is far more than just an unfortunate statistic, these are people's grandparents, parents and siblings," said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. "And as we continue to see this number grow it should underscore the point that we must all stay home. These next few weeks are so critical to flattening the curve. We must maintain social distancing to protect those in our lives who are at risk."

Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell has ordered all U.S. flags on county properties to be flown at half-staff in remembrance of all those who have been lost to COVID-19.

“We are a small county and these are not just numbers to us, the people we have lost are our friends and loved ones,” Odell said. “We will honor their memories as we continue to be vigilant against the spread of this virus.”

The flags will be lowered from April 8 until further notice.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer said the number of deaths in the county was less than 2 percent of the number of confirmed cases. "It could be much worse," he said at his Tuesday briefing.

The total number of confirmed cases as of Monday, according to the state health department:

• Dutchess: 1,249
• Orange: 3,599
• Putnam: 366
• Rockland: 5,990
• Ulster: 398
• Westchester: 14,804

Despite the grim news, hospitalization and ICU admission rates continued to show signs of flattening across New York — evidence that strict social distancing measures have been effective in reducing the spread of the virus, Cuomo said.

Three-day hospitalization rates in particular showed a marked decline, falling from 676 Sunday to 529 Monday. The three-day rates so far topped out at nearly 1,300 at the beginning of the month.

Cuomo said hospitalizations appeared to taper off as well, adding to the evidence the state is reaching a possible plateau when it comes to patients admitted due to the COVID-19 disease, which is caused by the new coronavirus. While hospitalizations jumped to 17,493 from 16,837, the rate of increase appears to be slowing.

Despite the rising number of deaths, he said in answer to a reporter's question that he isn't getting numb.

"I can tell you the hospital staff that is going through this, they're not getting numb. The pain is increasing, the grief is increasing," he said. "Get to a point where you have to put bodies in trucks in parking lots — how you could get numb to any of this I can't imagine.

"This virus is very good at what it does and it kills vulnerable people. The question is are you saving every one you can save. There, the answer is yes, and I take some solace from that."

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