Coronavirus: New York cases top 20,000 as Cuomo rolls out batch of experimental drugs

The state is testing 16,000 people per day for Covid-19

New York cases have topped 20,000 with testing ramping up for Covid-19, and Governor Andrew Cuomo says the state is now testing experimental drugs and treatments to help those infected.

The governor’s daily press conference on Monday included where New York state and city compares to other parts of the US for the coronavirus pandemic.

Cases in New York state rose to 20,875 positive for Covid-19, which is up 5,707 people from the previous day. Of those 20,875 cases, more than 12,000 are in New York City alone. Also, 157 people have died from the virus. This compares to the more than 35,000 cases confirmed nationwide, with New York making up the majority.

The sharp increase in New York cases comes as the state is testing about 16,000 people per day, a higher amount per capita compared to that of South Korea.

Mr Cuomo has pushed for New York state to aggressively test New York residents given how densely populated people in places like New York City are compared to the rest of the US.

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Now a race is on to procure treatments and vaccines that will help treat the virus.

Drug trials will start in the state on Tuesday by testing how patients react to a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, Mr Cuomo said.

The combination of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, and azithoromycin, an antibiotic, could be effective in treating people with Covid-19, according to a limited study in France. Donald Trump has repeatedly touted the mixture as a possible treatment for Covid-19, although Anthony Fauci, the administration's leading health expert on coronavirus, has said evidence for its effectiveness is so far "anecdotal".

Currently, there are no federally approved drugs or treatments for Covid-19, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but states like New York are rolling out drug trials to test the drug combination.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will send 750,000 doses of chloroquine, 75,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine and 10,000 doses of Zithromax to assist the state on its drug trials.

Demand for hydroxychloroquine has caused a shortage for lupus patients who rely on the drug to treat joint inflammation. Drug manufacturers, such as Amneal and Mylan, are working to increase production of the prescription drugs to better accommodate the needs of Americans, Business Insider reports.

But the World Health Organisation has warned about the drug combination, saying these are “untested drugs” in treating the novel virus. This hasn’t deterred Mr Trump, other health officials, and Mr Cuomo, though, when pushing to test the drug combination to see how it could treat Covid-19.

Regeneron, a New York-based company, is also working on a drug that could roll out in clinical trials in the near future. The company has been deemed “essential” by the governor to allow its full staff to go into the office during the statewide stay-at-home order.

Other potential treatments New York is looking into include antibody injections and vaccines, Mr Cuomo said.

About 13 per cent of those infected with the virus are hospitalised in New York state because of the virus, making the race for treatments more imperative.

The governor issued an executive order on Monday demanding hospitals in the state increase their capacity by 50 per cent to accommodate the expected cases, but the goal is for most hospitals to increase bed capacity by 100 per cent.