The first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. state of New York during the pandemic was confirmed on March 1, 2020, and the state quickly became an epicenter of the pandemic, with a record 12,274 new cases reported on April 4 and approximately 29,000 more deaths reported for the month of April than the same month in 2019. By April 10, New York had more confirmed cases than any country outside the US. , the state has reported 131.3 million tests, with 6,722,301 cumulative cases, and 79,960 deaths.
New York had the highest number of confirmed cases of any state from the start of U.S. outbreak until July 22, 2020, when it was first surpassed by California and later by Florida and Texas. Approximately half of the state's reported cases have been in New York City, where around 40% of the state's population lives.
Despite the high number of reported cases in March and April, by May 7, New York had reduced the rate of increase of new cases to less than 1% per day, and since June 6 to less than 0.25% per day. Unlike many other states, New York did not see a spike or "second wave" in the daily new case rate during the summer months. On June 17, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York had the lowest infection rate in the United States. In late September, New York began to see an uptick in cases, with over 1,000 new cases reported in a single day for the first time since early June on September 26.
, the state of New York had the fourth highest number of confirmed cases in the United States, and the 34th highest number of confirmed cases per capita. , it has the fourth-highest count of deaths related to the virus, surpassed by California, Florida, and Texas;"Number of deaths from coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States as of November 26, 2021, by state". Statista, November 28, 2021. Accessed November 28, 2021. and seventh-highest count per capita, behind New Jersey and several Southern and Western states, such as Mississippi, Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and Oklahoma."Death rates from coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States as of November 26, 2021, by state". Statista, November 28, 2021. Accessed November 28, 2021. In February 2021, the New York COVID-19 nursing home scandal surfaced, which drew huge criticism on Governor Cuomo's decision on withholding reports of nursing home deaths.
Government response to the pandemic in New York began with a full lockdown from March 2020 to April 2020, followed by a four-phase reopening plan by region from April 2020 to July 2020. Additional modifications to the plan were imposed in July as the state learned more about the pandemic and due to political pressure. In October 2020, a micro-cluster strategy was announced which shuts down areas of the state to varying degrees by ZIP code when cases increase.
, New York has administered 41,044,869 COVID-19 vaccine doses, and has fully vaccinated 15,265,493 people, equivalent to 78% of the population.
Origins Genetic analysis confirmed that most cases of the virus had mutations indicating a European origin, meaning travelers flying to New York City from Europe brought the virus. Americans visiting Italy in late February and returning to New York on March 1 were not asked by customs if they had spent time in Italy, even though the State Department had urged Americans not to travel to Italy on February 29 (the same day Italy reported 1,100 COVID cases). According to statistical models, New York City already had 600 COVID-19 cases in mid-February, and as many as 10,000 cases by March 1.
Timeline
March 1, 2020, saw the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in New York State, a 39-year-old female health care worker who lived in Manhattan, who had returned from Iran on February 25 with no symptoms at the time. She went into home isolation with her husband.
On March 3, a second case was confirmed, a lawyer in his 50s who lived in New Rochelle, Westchester County, immediately north of New York City, and worked in Midtown Manhattan at a law firm within One Grand Central Place. He had traveled to Miami in February, but had not visited areas known to have widespread transmission of the coronavirus. Two of his four children had recently returned from Israel. After first feeling ill on February 22, he was admitted to a hospital in Westchester on February 27, diagnosed with pneumonia, and released from isolation after testing negative for the flu. Instances of panic buying in New York were reported after his case was confirmed.
On March 4, the number of cases in New York State increased to 11 as nine people linked to the lawyer tested positive, including his wife, a son, a daughter, a neighbor, and a friend and his family.
On March 5, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said that coronavirus fears should not keep New Yorkers off the subway, riding from Fulton Street to High Street in a public press attempt to demonstrate the subway's safety.
On March 6, eleven new cases were reported, bringing the state caseload to 33. All the new cases were tied to the first community transmission case, the lawyer. At the end of the day, an additional 11 new cases were reported by the governor, bringing the total caseload to 44, with 8 of the new cases in Westchester County, and 3 in Nassau County on Long Island. Also on March 6, an article appeared in the New York Post stating that while Mayor de Blasio assigned responsibility for the lack of N95 masks and other personal protective equipment to the federal government, the city never ordered the supplies until that date.
On March 7, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency in New York after 89 cases had been confirmed in the state, 70 of them in Westchester County, 12 in New York City and 7 elsewhere.
On March 8, the state reported 16 new confirmed cases and a total of 106 cases statewide. New York City issued new commuter guidelines amid the current outbreak, asking sick individuals to stay off public transit, encouraging citizens to avoid densely packed buses, subways, or trains.
On March 9, Mayor de Blasio announced that there were 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York City. On March 10, Governor Cuomo announced a containment zone in the city of New Rochelle from March 12 to 25.
On March 11, Cuomo announced that the City University of New York and State University of New York schools would be closed for the following week, from March 12 to 19. These college systems would move most classes to an online-based system starting March 19, and continuing through the rest of the spring semester. Dormitories remained open for students "who cannot return home for hardship reasons". Also on March 11, a man in Monroe County tested positive, making it the first county in Western New York to have a COVID-19 case. Officials said he flew into JFK from Italy, traveled on a Greyhound bus from Manhattan to Rochester, and arrived locally the morning of March 10. The bus continued on to Buffalo and Toronto.
On March 12, the first two cases were confirmed in Albany County, leading Albany mayor Kathy Sheehan to suspend the annual St. Patrick's Day parade. The same day, a staff member at Union College tested positive for coronavirus in Schenectady County, marking the county's first case.
On March 13, Herkimer County saw its first confirmed case but declined to disclose the patient's location. The patient later was revealed to have been from the Mohawk/Ilion area, just south of Herkimer, the county seat.
On March 14, the first two fatalities in the state occurred. An 82-year-old woman in Brooklyn with pre-existing emphysema died in the hospital. A 65-year-old person with other significant health problems who had not previously been tested for COVID-19 died at their home in Suffern, Rockland County. It was also announced that three people in Erie County tested positive for COVID-19. Orange County, Dutchess County and Ulster County closed down all their schools.
On March 15, the third fatality in the state was announced. A 79-year-old woman with underlying health issues died, who had been admitted to a New York City hospital.
On March 16, Clinton County reported its first case, at CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh. No further information has been revealed about the patient. Confirmed cases increased by 4,000 between March 22 and 23, which brought the total number of confirmed cases statewide to nearly 21,000. 12,305 of these were in New York City.
On March 24, Cuomo said, "The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought." He warned there was not enough assistance from the federal government and that the state had 25,000 cases and at least 210 deaths. 211 NYPD officers and civilian employees have tested positive for COVID-19. In total, 2,774 NYPD employees, 7.6 percent of the workforce, were sick.211 NYPD officers, civilian members test positive for coronavirus; 7.6 percent of workforce out sick By Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 24 Mar 2020 There were approximately 4,000 positive cases in Westchester County by March 24, and more than 15,000 confirmed cases by April 9.
On March 26, 2020, Cuomo announced that the state would allow two patients to share one ventilator using a technique he called "splitting," where a second set of tubes would be added to the ventilator. COVID-19 patients need ventilators for between 11 and 21 days, while under normal circumstances patients usually only require them for three to four days. He also said the state was considering converting anesthesia machines to use as ventilators. Between March 25 and March 26, there were 100 deaths statewide, with the number of hospitalized patients increasing by 40 percent in New York City.
Researchers at Cornell University created an interactive map to visualize the spread of COVID-19 in New York State.
On January 4, 2021, a confirmed case of a new, more contagious SARS-CoV-2 variant from the United Kingdom was reported in New York. The patient was a man in his sixties from Saratoga County in upstate New York, who had no travel history to the United Kingdom. As of March 2, 2021, 286 sequences in the B.1.1.7 lineage have been detected in New York.B.1.1.7 Lineage Report. Alaa Abdel Latif, Karthik Gangavarapu, Emily Haag, Nate Matteson, Julia L. Mullen, Ginger Tsueng, Mark Zeller, Chunlei Wu, Andrew I. Su, Laura D. Hughes, Kristian G. Andersen, and the Center for Viral Systems Biology. outbreak.info. Accessed March 2, 2021.
On July 22, 2021, 31 out of 550 campers at sleep-away Camp Pontiac in upstate New York tested positive. All were under the age of 12, making them too young to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.
Impact on health care
Shortage of protective gear and medical equipment
After trying to purchase 200,000 N95 masks on February 7, 2020, the Office of Emergency Management learned that vendors were out of stock. Emergency provisions of masks and hand sanitizers did not arrive until early March. One medical supply vendor with standing city contracts said that the initial requests for protective gear from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) were bogged down by inefficient bureaucratic delays. One vendor said, "We'd send them a list of products we can deliver within 24, 48 hours," but on average it took 72 hours for the agency to place an order. He added "the city just moves so slow" when there was very high demand coming from hospitals and the private sector. According to the contractor, eight out of 10 supply orders could not be filled because DCAS did not pay on time, which a spokeswoman for New York City denied. The office of the comptroller approved 12 contracts with a total value of $150 million before the mayor's office took over the process on March 16. Mayor de Blasio said that the city might run out of supplies by April if the federal government did not send 3 million N95 masks, 50 million surgical masks, 15,000 ventilators, and 45 million surgical gowns, gloves, and face shields.