NEW YORK CITY — Just 1 percent of New York City residents tested Sunday for novel coronavirus were infected with the potentially fatal virus, marking a new record low in the fight against its spread, officials said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daily tracking indicators show continued to progress even after a week of police reform protests crowded thousands into the streets of New York City.
“I am so proud of New York City for this,” said de Blasio, announcing the lowest percentage since the crisis hit. “Let’s keep clinging to this progress, let’s build upon it, let’s beat this disease.”
This news comes as New York City tests approximately 35,000 residents daily and more than two months after it reached its peak of 71 percent positive cases.
Yesterday was the beginning of our restart. But let me be clear: this isn’t about getting BACK to a time before COVID-19. It’s about building something better: a safer and fairer city.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) June 9, 2020
The number of NYC Health + Hospital COVID-19 admittances also dropped Sunday to 52, while at the pandemic’s peak, it was 850, data show.
The number of ICU COVID-19 patients remained beneath the 375 reopening threshold with 337 patients, an increase from Saturday’s 326.
De Blasio noted New York City still sees hundreds of new cases every day, which means the city will not likely reach low COVID-19 transmission until fall.
As of June 8, New York City had seen 204,253 COVID-19 cases, 52,920 hospitalizations, 17,169 confirmed COVID-119-related deaths, and 4,708 suspected deaths, city data show.
And while these numbers signal a temporary victory in New York City’s fight against COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Monday the protests could cause an uptick in cases.
Cuomo urged anyone who attended a protest to get a COVID-19 test, saying a single person in a crowd of 100 people could infect dozens.
“We had all these at-home measures and then we had thousands of people show up for protests,” Cuomo said. “Did that affect the spread of the virus? We don’t know.”
