Virus Deaths Fall to New Low as New York Confronts Fresh Crisis
Coronavirus deaths in New York dropped on Sunday to 56, the lowest since the outbreak’s peak.
(Bloomberg) --
Coronavirus deaths in New York dropped on Sunday to 56, the lowest since the outbreak’s peak. Governor Andrew Cuomo pivoted from the virus to the new crisis of unrest over the death of George Floyd -- and declared the two connected.
“It’s not a coincidence that the unrest happens in the middle of the pandemic, right?” Cuomo told reporters in Albany. “Those are not separate situations. There’s tremendous stress on everyone.”
Both Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who spoke earlier, faced a barrage of questions over police conduct after three days of protests in the city, just one point of national demonstrations against the death of a black man by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Both men walked a fine line between defending the police and the right to peaceful protest. They said the police had been generally restrained but that they were ordering separate investigations into incidents -- most prominently on Sunday, when a video from the day before in Brooklyn showed a police car plowing through a crowd of protesters. Others showed incidents of pepper spraying.
“I’ve seen those videos and those videos are truly disturbing, some frankly inexplicable to me,” Cuomo said.
No Curfew Planned
They said they expected more protests on Sunday but ruled out -- for now -- a curfew, as has been declared in several other major cities. De Blasio said there were no deaths or serious injuries in protests scattered around New York City on Saturday, during which nearly 350 people were arrested.
Cuomo said he’s alerted the National Guard and will send additional police to Rochester and other cities that request help.
De Blasio and Cuomo have spoken passionately about their support of the protests and the need to reform police actions after years of deaths of black suspects. Cuomo, as he often does, took a swipe at President Donald Trump as he warned protesters to avoid violence.
When demonstrations turn violent, “it allows the president of the United States to tweet about looting rather than murder,” he said. “It dishonors Mr. Floyd’s death.”
Phase One Ahead
Cuomo again drew a parallel between the protests and the coronavirus, saying that the actions of individual New Yorkers in wearing masks and practicing social distancing had brought the daily death toll down from nearly 800 in April.
“Who changed society to deal with this virus? The people did it,” he said. Around the country, the Covid-19 has also hit minority communities the hardest.
De Blasio defended peaceful demonstrators and police exercising restraint, while denouncing violent protesters. He described many of them as agitators intending to cause harm, and also vowed to discipline police caught using inappropriate force.
“There is a reason why peaceful protesters are protesting; there are changes we need to make,” de Blasio said. “It’s a whole different matter for people who were there not to peacefully protest,” he said.
De Blasio said the unrest wouldn’t have an impact on the city’s planned Phase One reopening of its economy, for construction, manufacturing, wholesale and curbside retail businesses.
The mayor said he would support the governor in repealing a law that shields the records of police officers who’ve been disciplined for abuse and misconduct, as long as it protects officers’ personal information.
He also appointed James Johnson, who heads the city Law Department, and Margaret Garnett, its commissioner of investigations -- two veteran prosecutors with civil rights background -- to investigate the police handling of the protests.
Cuomo has appointed the state Attorney General Letitia James to conduct a similar report due within 30 days.
New York reported an additional 1,110 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, for a total of 370,770. Cuomo said new and total hospitalizations continued to drop, as did admissions to intensive care.
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