New York - The governor of New York state said
officials had "underestimated" the coronavirus and needed to prepare
for the apex of the outbreak.
"I'm tired of being behind this virus. We've been behind this virus
from day one," Andrew Cuomo told a news briefing. "We underestimated
this virus. It's more powerful, it's more dangerous than we
expected."
Coronavirus cases surged to 75 795 in New York, while the death toll
jumped nearly 30 per cent overnight to 1550, Cuomo said, warning
that the state was "still headed up the mountain."
The new cases mean New York has surpassed China's Hubei province
which reported 67,801 cases since the virus emerged there in
December, according to John Hopkins University data.
The New York governor also said his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo,
had tested positive for coronavirus.
"He's going to be quarantined in his basement at home," Cuomo said of
his brother, after calling the virus a "great equalizer."
The governor said the health care system was "dealing with a war
we've never dealt with before," and that doctors and nurses were
facing "immense physical and emotional stress."
The lights of New York City's Empire State Building began shining red
on Monday to honour "emergency workers on the front line of the
fight" against the virus, according to a post from the iconic
building's Twitter account.
In the United States, there have been more than 3,400 deaths and some
165,900 confirmed coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins
University.