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The coronavirus pandemic in America’s hardest-hit state is starting to wane, its governor said, as more U.S. protesters rallied to lift social-distancing restrictions. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at news conference Saturday the number of people currently hospitalized in the state for Covid-19 was below 17,000 compared with about 18,000 at its peak. With more than 235,000 reported coronavirus cases, New York accounts for about one-third of all infections in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Grant, Yap and Pop, 4/18)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Sunday said the state's infection rate has slowed and that if current hospitalization trends persist, the Empire State’s coronavirus outbreak has peaked and begun to descend. “We’ve been watching this 24 hours a day… the total hospitalization rate is down again in the state of New York, we’re down to 16,000,” Cuomo said during his daily briefing. “It turned out the high point wasn’t a point, but the high point was a plateau, and we got up to the high point and then we just stayed at that level for a while.” (Budryk, 4/19)

New York City has never looked so unlike itself. Deserted streets and vacant stores. Essential workers taking to lonely subways. Mandatory face coverings. But beyond the changes we can see outright are other lifestyle shifts that reflect the struggles and needs that have emerged within the last month. Unemployment, of course, is up, and the number is staggering. With the state’s shutdown extended until at least May 15, it is a desperate time for many. (Knoll, Paybarah, Meschke and Chen, 4/20)

Visitors to the western end of Fire Island are greeted by a large sign telling them to “Stop, turn around, go back.” In bold, red letters, the sign proclaims that the island’s residential areas are “closed to visitors” and that it has “No restrooms, no open business, no medical facility.” In fact, visiting Fire Island is not banned — a resident put up the unofficial sign — but it is strongly discouraged by local officials who fear that outsiders might bring the coronavirus to this 32 mile-long barrier island east of New York City, accessible mainly by ferry from mainland Long Island. (Kilgannon, 4/19)

[Gus] Padilla scarfed down his breakfast and changed into his work clothes. A long-sleeve navy shirt, teal pants, white face mask, black plastic gloves. Then he got to work, placing body after body after body into a large furnace, known as a retort, inside the crematorium at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. “It’s nonstop,” Padilla said, his skin moist from sweat. (Shapiro, 4/19)

After feeling unwell with what seemed like symptoms of the coronavirus, Luis Arellano first tried going to a nearby hospital in Brooklyn, where he was told to come back if his condition worsened. Days later, as his health deteriorated, his family took him to a New Jersey hospital. He waited eight hours, and after being told they’d have to wait another seven to nine hours, the family left, they said. (Salcedo, 4/19)

Americans are suffering in the greatest numbers of the pandemic. Known infections here are more than the next four countries combined. According to data from Johns Hopkins, only about 5% of infected Americans have died, but this weekend that left more than 37,000 dead — nearly one in four of world fatalities. (Pelley, 4/19)