The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has declared a state of emergency on Saturday after the number of coronavirus patients in New York rose to 76.
During a news conference in Albany, Cuomo said twenty more people have tested positive for coronavirus in New York, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 76.
He said “You know what’s worse than the virus? The anxiety. The declaration of emergency will allow the state to speed up the purchasing of supplies and the hiring of workers to assist local health departments that have been handling the monitoring of thousands of self-quarantined patients. Somebody has to go knock on their door, once a day, this is labor intensive. The declaration would also allow officials to skirt purchasing regulations, if necessary”