- New York has been hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak in the US, leaving the streets eerily empty and the hospitals and morgues overwhelmed.
- Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended the stay-at-home order until at least May 15, keeping all schools and nonessential businesses shuttered.
- As the state grapples with overtaxed medical systems and a surge of new patients, authorities have rushed to build makeshift hospitals and ramp up precautionary efforts.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The coronavirus outbreak in the US has hit New York the hardest, and the City that Never Sleeps is unrecognizable. By Friday, the state had reported more than 222,000 cases and at least 12,000 deaths.
To grapple with this surge, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended the state's stay-at-home order until at least May 15, ramped up testing efforts, built multiple makeshift hospitals, and ordered all New Yorkers to wear face masks in public.
These photos reveal what it looks like in New York as authorities scramble to contain the outbreak in one of the nation's most populous states.
New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, causing one of the most densely populated cities in the world to feel eerily empty.
But hospitals are a different story. They've become overwhelmed with the number of patients needing intensive care. Since the pandemic began, more than 32,000 people have been hospitalized in New York City.
Sources: NYC Health, USA Today
In just 24 hours in late March, 13 patients died at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, prompting one medical worker to call the situation "apocalyptic."
Source: The New York Times
One doctor in New York City told Business Insider Today: "It's really horrific and it's not going to get better anytime soon, especially if we start leaving our houses and not staying home."
Source: Business Insider
To relieve hospitals, the Army Corps of Engineers have built makeshift hospitals around the city. They transformed the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center in Manhattan into a 1,000-bed hospital that opened to patients on March 30.
Source: Business Insider
The US Army Corps of Engineers also turned the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, the Aqueduct Racetrack facility in Queens, CUNY Staten Island, and the New York Expo Center in the Bronx into makeshift hospital sites.
The evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization Samaritan's Purse has reimagined parts of Central Park into a 68-bed emergency field hospital. The site has been treating patients from New York's Mount Sinai hospital system since April 1.
Source: Insider
On March 30, a US Navy hospital ship dubbed the USNS Comfort arrived in Manhattan equipped with 1,000 beds, 12 operating rooms, a laboratory, and more than 1,000 Navy officers to relieve overwhelmed hospitals in the city.
Source: Business Insider
The USNS Comfort wasn't going to be used for coronavirus patients, but began to, and has so far treated at least 130 people with COVID-19.
Sources: WTKR, Business Insider,Business Insider
More than 76,000 healthcare workers — many of them already retired — have volunteered to work in New York hospitals as the situation becomes more strained.
Source: Forbes
But healthcare workers are growing anxious as masks and other protective gear remain scarce. Some hospitals have transitioned into only treating coronavirus patients, and doctors have told Business Insider that the "new reality is unreal."
Source: Business Insider
A shortage of hospital beds and ventilators has forced some hospitals to ration out resources — and in the most extreme cases, form a plan as to what patients will get treatment over others.
Source: Business Insider
One doctor in New York City told Business Insider Today that deciding which patients to intubate or ventilate is "a matter of when, not if. We will have to make those decisions in New York very soon, and our goal is to put that day off as far as possible."
Source: Business Insider
On April 15, Cuomo ordered all New Yorkers to wear a mask or cover their face in public where social distancing cannot be maintained. This includes on public transportation, inside grocery stores, or walking on crowded sidewalks.
For information on how to construct your own mask at home, look here.
For the first time since 9/11, New York City set up makeshift morgues outside of hospitals using refrigerated trucks and tents, in preparation for mass coronavirus casualties.
Sources: Business Insider, CNN
The state has ramped up testing efforts and opened up new drive-thru stations, making it the most aggressive testing state in the country. At least 28 public and private labs have been approved for testing by the FDA.
Sources: Business Insider, CNBC, The COVID Tracking Project, New York State
One funeral director told Business Insider correspondent Dave Mosher that "no one in the New York City area possibly has enough equipment to care for human remains of this magnitude." In late March, one person was dying from the coronavirus roughly every six minutes in New York City.
Sources: Business Insider, Gothamist
At the current pace, with thousands of new cases and hundreds of new deaths reported each day, the process of New York returning to normal is expected to take months at least.
Source: The New York Times
"This is an invisible beast. It is an insidious beast," Cuomo said. "This is a moment that is going to change this nation. This is a moment that forges character, forges people, changes people."
Source: Business Insider
But there might be hope. The number of hospitalizations has been slowly declining over the past couple of weeks, suggesting that New York might have hit the apex of this wave of infections.
Sources: Business Insider, The New York Times
Social distancing efforts have also showed promising results in New Rochelle, New York, the area that was previously hit hardest. The small city located in Westchester County, north of New York City, reported a significantly fewer number of cases following their lockdown efforts.
Sources: The New York Times, Business Insider
And for the past couple of weeks, New Yorkers have been sending hope by applauding healthcare workers from their apartments and making encouraging signs.
Photos of New York City streets show people largely adhering to the social distancing guidelines. All nonessential businesses, public schools, and tourist attractions have been shuttered, leaving the streets unusually quiet.
Source: Business Insider
Even Times Square, one of the country's most popular tourist attractions, has become largely abandoned.
Source: Business Insider
Where the streets are typically littered with tourists, entertainment, and taxis, this aerial shot shows Times Square without a pedestrian in sight.
A famous Times Square personality, "The Naked Cowboy" stood amid the empty streets, and wore a mask as he waited for tourists in March. But stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions have kept foot traffic low.
On March 28, the CDC issued a domestic travel notice for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, urging Americans to avoid "nonessential travel" from the region, leaving New York airports largely empty.
Sources: Business Insider, CDC
New York City playgrounds, including this one in the vast and sprawling Central Park, have been shut down. Cuomo has closed all playgrounds and basketball courts to maintain social distancing, but parks remain open for exercise.
Source: New York Times
But people have found creative ways to get some fresh air. Some lucky New Yorkers with roof access have used the spaces to work from home.
The New York City subway system is still running for essential workers and necessary travel, but many stations have been left looking abandoned.
Source: Business Insider
This mall and transit exit in lower Manhattan is typically bustling with people.
Daily subway commutes are down 93% since February, dropping from about 4 million people to just 400,000.
Source: Business Insider
Cuomo extended the stay-at-home order for all nonessential workers and schools throughout the state until at least May 15, leaving many bars and restaurants shuttered.
Source: The New York Times
But restaurants are still allowed to offer takeout and delivery.
Throughout the outbreak, New Yorkers have stockpiled food and supplies, leaving some supermarkets swept clean.
By Friday, the US had reported nearly 700,000 cases and at least 36,000 deaths. Public health experts think New York may have hit the peak of the first wave, and hope the US isn't far behind, but expect more waves of outbreaks until we have a vaccine or treatment to truly get the coronavirus under control.
Sources: Johns Hopkins, Business Insider