The medical community in New York City has lost one of its own to COVID-19, among 280 other deaths.
The nurse, who worked at Mount Sinai Hospital, died about two weeks after learned he was infected.
The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the five boroughs surpassed 20,000 on Thursday, with at least 3,750 hospitalizations and of those patients in the ICU.
ABC 7 New York reports there are at least 6,420 reported coronavirus cases in Queens; 5,232 in Brooklyn, 3,616 in Manhattan, 3,542 in the Bronx and 1,166 in Staten Island.
Queens has been described as "ground zero" for the virus in New York. Elmhurst Hospital reported 13 deaths due to COVID-19 in just 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday.
Mayor de Blasio says the city is still bracing for the worst of the pandemic, expected to arrive in mid-April.
A chief concern of officials is dwindling medical supplies, particularly personal protective equipment and life-saving ventilators. Many city nurses are reportedly using garbage bags since gowns are in such short supply.
De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have repeatedly over the past few weeks urged private manufacturers with flexibility to change-over their production lines and start producing medical supplies.
The city is still in need of at least 15,000 ventilators.
Amid all the gloom, Gov. Cuomo cautiously reported a glimmer of hope Wednesday: the rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 in the state had apparently fallen dramatically since the weekend. Infectious disease experts have said for months that a a flattening of the proverbial curve is crucial to ensuring hospitals don't get overwhelmed.
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