New York state reported a single-day increase of 779 deaths linked to the novel coronavirus at his daily press briefing Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, the death toll linked to COVID-19 in New York state stood at 6,268. There are currently more than 140,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the state.
That marks the highest single-day increase in the COVID-19 death total since the outbreak began. Wednesday's figure surpasses Tuesday's reported death count of 731.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the coronavirus a "vicious predator of a virus," during the press conference.
Cuomo's comments came hours after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ays the city's death toll from the coronavirus has been disproportionately high in black and Hispanic communities.
De Blasio said Wednesday that preliminary data indicates that black people account for 28% of the city's COVID-19 death toll though they are just 22% of the city's population. He says Hispanic people are 34% of the city's virus death toll and 29% of its population.
He says the disparities are troubling, and the city will "fight back."
De Blasio says the city will embark on a campaign to reach non-English speaking communities with information about the virus.
