Coronavirus: New York governor says peak will hit at end of April, as death toll nears 2,000

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said the peak of the coronavirus will now hit at the end of April, as the state nears a death toll of 2,000 people.

The governor held his daily press conference on Wednesday to update the public on how the state, which is the epicentre of Covid-19 in the US, has managed the novel virus.

Mr Cuomo said the government now expects the apex to hit at the end of April with the state needing 110,000 hospital beds for Covid-19 patients and 37,000 ventilators. The number of Covid-19 beds and ventilators needed for the virus was estimated if "minimal" social distancing regulations were followed by residents in the state.

"Which means another month of this," the governor added.

Cases in New York state rose to 83,712 people infected, 47,438 of whom are in New York City. As of Wednesday, 1,941 people have died from the virus. which is up from 1,550 on Tuesday.

In response to the continued uptick in cases in New York City, Mr Cuomo has decided to shut down all playgrounds in the five boroughs.

"I've said this 100 different ways, but compliance is still not where it should be," Mr Cuomo said. "So, we're going to take more dramatic actions. We are going to close down the New York City playgrounds. I've talked about this for weeks."

This decision came after the governor implored people for weeks to practise social distancing when outside and not congregate, but that was not followed by everyone. Less dense open spaces in these parks are remaining open for the time being.

One question Mr Cuomo addressed was when New York state and the country might return to "normal" after the pandemic, which residents everywhere want an answer to as they prepare for the coming weeks and months. But the governor did not see the world ever completely returning to what it was before the novel virus.

“I don't think we get back to normal. I think we get back or we get to a new normal,” Mr Cuomo said. A lesson to be learned from the virus, the governor said, was the need to grow industries such as tele-health.

The governor's daily presser then struck a more personal note as Mr Cuomo spoke about his brother, CNN anchorman Chris Cuomo, who was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Tuesday.

"I'm frightened for my brother, I'm worried about my brother," he said. "It's frightening because there's nothing I can do."

Mr Cuomo went on to call the anchorman "courageous" for holding his CNN show from his basement as a way to self-isolate from both the office and his family.

"My pop would be proud. I love you, little brother," he added.