Man tests positive for coronavirus bringing number to 4 in NYC
NEW YORK - A man in his 50s with connections to a New Rochelle attorney with coronavirus has tested positive for the virus, said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Details about the new case of the rapidly spreading virus would be announced later Friday during a news conference, de Blasio told radio host Brian Lehrer.
To date, there are four confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city.
On Thursday, two cases were confirmed, a man in his 40s and woman in her 80s. "Neither patient has a connection to travel nor any of the other local individuals diagnosed with COVID-19," said de Blasio.
Tests on 25 other people came back negative.
De Blasio pointed fingers on Thursday at the federal government for a lack of help fighting the virus in the city.
"Our single greatest challenge is the lack of fast federal action to increase testing capacity — without that, we cannot beat this epidemic back," said de Blasio. "To ensure we are able to test as many people as possible, we urgently need the CDC to increase our supply of COVID-19 test kits and expedite the approval of any testing approaches developed by private companies.
Thursday's positive test results came a day after health officials in the state announced a cluster of cases connected with the lawyer hospitalized with the disease. The attorney who works in Manhattan and lives in New Rochelle is hospitalized at NY Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center.
A healthcare worker who had traveled to Iran was the first case of the virus that has spread worldwide. She was self-quarantined in her Manhattan home.
Across the state, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was 23.
Approximately 1,000 people were asked to self-quarantine across New York, said NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
With the Associated Press