Eleven new cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in New York state on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 22 and the total in New York City to four.
Of the new COVID-19 diagnoses in the city, one is a man in his 40s and another is a woman in her 80s, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday afternoon, the mayor said both were critically ill and had substantial pre-existing conditions. The man had respiratory issues related to smoking and vaping, and the woman had specific illnesses related to her advanced age.
One of the new patients was hospitalized in Brooklyn and one was at a hospital in Manhattan.
Neither patient was connected to travel nor to any of the other local individuals who previously tested positive for COVID-19, said the mayor.
The other patients who tested positive in the state on Thursday included eight in Westchester showing mild or no symptoms, and a 42-year-old man in Nassau County who was hospitalized. It was not clear if they had contact with other local patients, though all but one of the previously announced cases in the state were linked to one Westchester man.
Of the four positive tests in the city, three came from New York City residents, and the fourth came from the Westchester man, who was being treated at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.
The Westchester man's wife, daughter, two sons, and neighbor tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. The man's friend and family, also from New Rochelle, were diagnosed later that day. This includes a 46-year-old woman, her 45-year-old husband, and three of their children. All but the man initially diagnosed were being self-quarantined in their homes.
The man is in his 50s and works in Manhattan as an attorney.
Because he is being hospitalized in the city, he is being considered by officials as part of the total number of New York City cases.
The first confirmed coronavirus case for New York was a health care worker who recently returned from Iran. She was not connected to the Westchester man, and was being kept in isolation at home. Her husband, who traveled with her, tested negative for the illness.
De Blasio says three teachers who recently came back from Italy have been tested for the virus. One teacher, at James Madison High School in Brooklyn, who exhibited symptoms after a school trip to an affected area of Italy, has tested negative for the coronavirus. Forty-four students and six other staff members on the trip have not exhibited symptoms.
The mayor says at this time there is an immediate threat only to students who have serious respiratory problems or compromised immune systems.
De Blasio is also calling on the federal government to provide more test kits to increase the city's testing capacity, warning that New York City has only one thousand total kits.
The city has also updated guidelines on how it will treat and test New Yorkers who may be at risk.
The health commissioner is requiring that any health care worker, educator, or first responder that is employed by the city — including Department of Education and Health + Hospitals Corporation employees — be tested for COVID-19 if they are determined to present a danger of infection to others. Any one of these employees who decline to get tested could be ordered to self-quarantine at home or at another location.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, held two coronavirus update briefings Thursday, one on Long Island, where a new case was discovered in Nassau County, and one in Albany earlier in the day.
He said the numbers of confirmed cases will only grow in the coming days.
"What is going to happen is the number will continue to go up," the governor said. "It must because we are continuing to test more and more."
Cuomo said the virus can live on a hard surface for up to 24 hours after someone who is infected coughs or sneezes.
But the mayor's office maintains that traveling by bus and subway is perfectly safe. And to prove the point, de Blasio actually rode the subway in front of TV cameras, getting on at Fulton Street in lower Manhattan.
The governor went on to say that if people are nervous they should avoid shaking hands or even hugging.
People are urged to take precautions like their washing hands and using hand sanitizer multiple times a day, much like people should do during the winter to avoid a cold or the flu. State health officials say coronavirus is actually less transmittable than the flu.
------
FURTHER CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
How Hospitals Protect Against the Spread of Coronavirus
NYPD Officers Prepare to Combat Novel Coronavirus Spread
NYC Businesses to Be Fined If Caught Price Gouging Face Masks