Time’s Square, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, who doesn’t know about one of the nation’s most famous states?  New York, arguably the most attractive cities to tourists, was caught right in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis. 

Following the spread of  COVID-19 that presumably originated in Wuhan, China. According to Syracuse, New York encountered COVID-19 for the first time on March 1st, when a 39 year old woman returning from travel abroad became the city’s first confirmed case. By March 5th, the COVID-19 cases doubled from 11 to 22, and the very next day, cases spiked to 45. As the weeks continued to progress, the situation got more and more dire, and by March 20th, Governor Andrew Cuomo mandated that all nonessential businesses close temporarily. Just before April’s Fools Day, deaths in New York crossed 1,000, and the nation’s most famous city was then the global coronavirus hotspot.

An empty subway (Photo Courtesy “Reuters”)

Then, on April 14th, cases reached a daily peak of 11,571. Throughout the rest of April, the cases continued to surge, and by the end of the month, Gov. Cuomo placed restrictions on New York subways as well. As April turned into May, the number of cases began to plunge to between 1,000 and 2,000 news cases per day, and by June, the state reported only 941 new cases per day. 

Throughout summer, New York continued to reduce its daily cases, and by mid-August, the number of cases reached an all-time low of 408. In addition, the New York Times reported on September 16th, that the state is one of 27 U.S. territories to have a low number of cases and daily infections.

Governor Andrew Cuomo (Photo Courtesy “Office of Governor Cuomo”)

New York’s success story against the coronavirus has been largely due to strong leadership from New York’s coronavirus task force. Additionally, the state relatively has obedient citizens, who followed state guidelines. The state’s success story has become an epitome for the rest of the world. New York’s example gives us here in California, who are struggling, hope that the COVID-19 pandemic can be defeated, and we can return to normal soon.