水果派AV

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that the woman 鈥� an 82-year-old Brooklyn resident 鈥� was hospitalized on March 3 and tested positive for COVID-19, a respiratory illness that is spreading across New York and the U.S.聽

The woman died Friday, according to Cuomo. He noted that she was previously hospitalized for an underlying illness 鈥� emphysema, a chronic health condition.聽

A Rockland County man, 65, died Thursday. On Saturday, the county medical examiner's office said the man, who had "other significant health problems which were likely contributory to his death," tested positive for the novel coronavirus.聽

Most people who contract the disease will recover. But officials have warned that seniors and individuals with chronic health conditions are at risk of serious illness.聽

The symptoms include a cough, fever and shortness of breath.聽

The first coronavirus-related deaths come as COVID-19 continues to spread across New York. Cuomo announced that two counties, including Tompkins, reported their first confirmed coronavirus cases.聽

As of Saturday, there are 613 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York. That's an increase of nearly 200 in a 24-hour period. New York City surpassed Westchester County as the municipality with the most cases in the state.聽

The state conducted 700 tests Friday, according to Cuomo.聽

"The more tests we take, the more that number will go up," he said.聽

Cuomo repeated what he said on Friday that there are likely many more cases that haven't been reported to the state. He estimated that thousands or potentially tens of thousands of New Yorkers could have contracted the virus, but haven't been tested or the cases resolved on their own.聽

What concerns Cuomo, state and local health officials is the rate of hospitalizations. Statewide, there are 117 people hospitalized after contracting the novel coronavirus.聽

It could be challenging for hospitals if patients with COVID-19 need to be placed in intensive care units. Occupancy in ICUs across New York is at 80%, Cuomo said.聽

"You're trying to reduce the rate of the spread to a level that your hospital capacity can manage," said Cuomo, who said that New York has 50,000 hospital beds and 3,000 beds in intensive care units. "One side of the equation has to balance with the other side of the equation. If the rate of spread is too high, then you can't manage it with your hospital capacity."聽

In other news:听

鈥� Cuomo announced that the state Department of Financial Services will require insurance companies to waive copayments for telemedicine visits.聽

By waiving copays for the consultations, the state is encouraging people to use telemedicine instead of going to emergency rooms.聽

"We don't want them to go to emergency rooms," Cuomo said. "The emergency rooms back up. If you do have a coronavirus, we don't want you walking into an emergency room and possibly infecting other people and staff and if you don't have the coronavirus, we don't want you going to an emergency room where other people may have the coronavirus."聽

鈥� The drive-through testing facility in New Rochelle processed 150 vehicles on Friday. It's unknown how many people were tested at the new mobile testing site.聽

"It increases our testing capacity but also keeps people out of emergency rooms and it's a very controlled setting," Cuomo said.聽

The state is planning to open another drive-through testing site on Long Island. Jones Beach is being eyed as a possible host for the testing hub. Cuomo hopes that it will be open for vehicles by the end of next week.聽