The Big Apple neared a painful milestone Wednesday as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak that has ravaged the five boroughs approached 15,000.
The pandemic has claimed the lives of 14,996 New Yorkers, with new 569 fatalities reported in the most recent 24-hour period, according to data from the city’s Department of Health.
That includes 9,944 victims who tested positive for the disease plus 5,052 people who showed tell-tale symptoms of the virus but never received a test.
The majority of fatalities are people over 75 with pre-existing health conditions.
Over 138,000 New Yorkers had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday.
Despite the staggering tallies, the percentage of people tested who are positive for the virus citywide declined from 35 percent on Sunday to 33 percent on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a City Hall conference call with reporters Wednesday.
Patients in ICUs across the city’s 11 public hospitals also dropped.
There’s been “overall real progress,” de Blasio said, but noted, “We still need more progress to get to the point where we need to get to low-level transmission and loosen up restrictions.”
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