The number of cases of COVID-19 in NYC have increased to 12,339. That includes 3,621 cases in Queens 2,572 in Manhattan, 3,494 in Brooklyn 1,829 in the Bronx, and 817 in Staten Island. White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, Dr. Deborah L. Birx, said nearly 1 in 1,000 people in the region has contracted the virus – five times the rate of other areas. NY has now surpassed 20,000 positive cases of the COVID-19, with 5,000 new cases, Governor Cuomo said. Cuomo said 13% of the 20,940 cases resulted in hospitalization, with 157 fatalities. Cuomo promised 1,000 beds were coming soon to a vast Manhattan convention center that’s being made into a temporary medical center as officials raced to prepare for an overwhelming number of coronavirus patients. “This is going to get much worse before it gets better. We are still in the relative calm before the storm,” Cuomo said during a stop at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. “You’re going to see the number of infections, the number of cases, increase dramatically. You are going to see an overcapacity of our health system.” STAY UPDATED WITH BREAKING UPDATES FROM YWN VIA WHATSAPP – SIGN UP NOW Just click on this link, and you will be placed into a group. Construction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency temporary hospital at the convention center will start this week and hopefully be done within 10 days, Cuomo said. Capacity at the convention center could eventually be expanded to 2,000 patients, he said. MONSEY AREA: Rockland County Executive Ed Day said there are 623 positive cases of coronavirus in Rockland County NEW JERSEY: There are now 2,844 positive cases of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in New Jersey with 27 deaths. NJ Governor Murphy said he believes New Jersey schools will likely be closed for “a long and extended period of time.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)