New York governor reports headway in US virus battle; says COVID-19 'on the descent' in state

Even as the United States continues to be the worst-hit country in the world due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, it seems that the state of New York, which has emerged as the epicenter of the virus outbreak in the country, has now passed its peak in the battle against the deadly pandemic.

In the US, New York has been badly hit by the coronavirus with over 226,000 known infections and over 13,000 people have lost their lives in the state due to the deadly virus.

However, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reported headway on Sunday when he said that the COVID-19 outbreak in the state is "on the descent." He also acknowledged that it is "good news only compared to the terrible news that we were living with, which is that constant increase" in hospitalizations and deaths, Cuomo said of the latest data.

"We are past the high point, and all indications at this point are that we are on the descent. Whether or not the descent continues depends on what we do, but right now we're on the descent," Cuomo told reporters during a press conference.

"It's no time to get cocky and it's no time to get arrogant," he added, "We have a long way to go and a lot of work to do. This virus has been ahead of us every step of the way. We still have to make sure that we keep that beast under control."

Earlier last week as well, the New York Governor had claimed that the "worst is over" for the state's coronavirus outbreak, based on data that pointed towards ower average hospitalization rates and intubations suggesting a "plateauing" of infections in America's coronavirus epicenter.

Cuomo had also warned that the situation might quickly turn around on its head if the restrictions are lifted.

Mounting evidence suggests that the lockdowns and social distancing are slowing the spread of the virus. That has intensified planning in many countries to begin loosening curbs on movement and easing the crushing pressure on national economies.

Europe saw encouraging signs on Sunday -- with Italy, Spain, France, and Britain showing drops in daily death tolls and slowing infection rates. Hard-hit European nations have begun preparing for a slow reopening, news agency AFP reported.

The continent accounts for almost two-thirds of the nearly 165,000 fatalities reported across the globe out of more than 2.3 million declared infections, according to an AFP tally.

Meanwhile, the global coronavirus deaths on Monday still crossed the 1.65 lakh mark with the United States registering the highest death toll of over 40,000.

Governments across the world are now debating how and when to ease lockdowns that have kept more than half of humanity -- 4.5 billion people -- confined to their homes and crippled the global economy.