New York state virus deaths spike to 385, 100 in single day

NEW YORK CORONAVIRUS 

New York's governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that the populous US state's coronavirus death tally has jumped to 385, with 100 fatalities in the past day.

New York is at the epicenter of America's coronavirus battle and the state has now counted 37,258 positive cases, as it scrambles to prepare hospitals and create overflow capacity for an influx of new patients.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media at the Javits Convention Center which is being turned into a hospital to help fight coronavirus cases on March 24, 2020 in New York City. New York City has about a third of the nations confirmed coronavirus cases, making it the center of the outbreak in the United States. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images/AFP

The grim announcement comes hours after the total US death toll surpassed 1,000, with more than 69,200 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

Cuomo emphasized that 25 percent of all tests have been conducted in New York state, and expressed disappointment that the federal government had not allocated more resources for it in its $2 trillion virus relief bill.

The governor also told journalists the state has received approval to "split" ventilators between two patients, and convert anesthesia machines to ventilators for intensive care patients, if necessary.

He said medical personnel were finding that patients need more time than expected on ventilators, sometimes 20 to 30 days.

"The longer you are on a ventilator, the more probability of a bad outcome," Cuomo said.