NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2020) There are now over 670 COVID-19 fatalities in New York City and over 32,300 confirmed coronavirus cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters, warning that the coronavirus situation could get worse.
"We're all feeling very heavy hearts as we deal with such an extraordinary challenge and we think about New Yorkers that we've lost and we think about what's ahead," de Blasio said on Sunday.
He said he had talked to US President Donald Trump about getting more medical supplies and help to New York City.
"We have until next Sunday, April 5, to get the reinforcements that we need particularly in what comes to ventilators," de Blasio said, adding that he had asked for 400 more ventilators to be received by April 1.
With the current rapid spread of COVID-19, New York has to be "ready for all eventualities," the mayor warned, saying "We are the epicenter and the numbers are staggering."
"As of this morning we were at 32,308 total cases, a stunning number, and we have lost, and this is so painful, 678 of our fellow New Yorkers. That means in the last 24 hours, from this morning to Saturday morning we lost 161 more people in this city, people of all walks of life, every kind of New Yorker," de Blasio told reporters on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, New York City authorities ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down, banned social gatherings of any size and directed residents to stay six-feet apart from each other.
New York City residents who do not comply with the guidelines on social distancing imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 may face a fine of up to $500.
According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, there are now more than 137,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, more than in any other country in the world.
