NY one-day coronavirus death toll falls below 100 for the first time in weeks

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Saturday that for the first time in weeks, less than 100 people died of the coronavirus in the state in a 24-hour period. 

On Friday, 84 deaths from the coronavirus were recorded in the state, down from 109 the day before. The state’s daily death toll has hovered above 100 for the past week. 

At its worst point in early April, the state recorded nearly 800 deaths for several consecutive days. 

Cuomo said that in April, when New York was seeing “hundreds and hundreds” of deaths each day, a public health official told him that once the state saw fewer than 100 deaths a day, he could “breathe a sigh of relief.”

“In my head, I was always looking to get under 100. … For me, it’s just a sign that we’re making real progress,” Cuomo said at a daily press briefing Saturday, adding, “Under 100 doesn’t do anything for those 84 families that are feeling the pain.”

NEW: Coronavirus-related deaths in New York State decline below 100, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “In my head, I was always looking to get under 100… for me, it’s just a sign that we’re making real progress.” https://t.co/8VGmqxFn57 pic.twitter.com/0mV3PMrnLs

— ABC News (@ABC) May 23, 2020

The news comes after Cuomo signed an executive order Friday reversing a previous ban on social gatherings, allowing the groups of 10 people or fewer to congregate as long as proper social distancing is practiced.

As of Saturday, New York has reported 358,000 cases of the coronavirus and 23,195 deaths, more than any other state in the U.S.