were found to have them, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Thursday.
The results were from a state program that tested 3,000 supermarket customers across New York State. Nearly 14 percent of the tests came back positive, Mr. Cuomo said.
It was unclear just how telling the preliminary data was, Mr. Cuomo acknowledged. And the accuracy of the antibody testing available in the United States in general has been called into question.
Antibody tests are intended to signal whether a person may have built immunity to a virus. They do not test for the virus itself.
But if the state’s numbers indicated the true incidence of the virus, it would mean that more than 1.7 million people in New York City, and more than 2.6 million people statewide, have already been infected.
That is far greater than the 250,000 confirmed cases of the virus itself that the state has recorded.
It would also mean that the fatality rate from the virus was relatively low, about 0.5 percent, Mr. Cuomo said.
The overall toll rose on Wednesday when officials learned of the deaths of three men who had been living in shelters meant for single adults and who died after being hospitalized with the virus, officials said.
Nearly three out of every four homeless people who have died of the virus and were being tracked by the homeless services agency were adults living in shelters where multiple people share rooms and bathrooms.
At a meeting on Thursday, the City Council’s general welfare committee took up legislation that, among other things, would require that single homeless adults be provided with private rooms.
[Coronavirus in New York: A map and the case count.]
N.Y.C. jail officers sue over long hours in a “cesspool of illness.”
New York City’s jails, where inmates and correction officers are crammed together in cell blocks that are unsanitary even in normal times, have been among the most vulnerable workplaces during the pandemic.
The virus had infected 587 correction staff members and 323 inmates in the city’s jails as of Thursday, according to data from the officers’ union. Nine staff members and at least three inmates have died, officials said.
In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, the union accused the city of putting correction officers at further risk by requiring them to work overtime to fill staffing shortages. Some officers, the suit says, have been forced to work three straight shifts of at least eight hours each.
The union, the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, said the 24-hour shifts were damaging the officers’ physical and mental health and forcing them into a “cesspool of illness.”
What we’re reading
The anticipated bankruptcy of Neiman Marcus could throw Hudson Yards’ luxury mall into peril. [The Real Deal]
Economy Candy on the Lower East Side is pivoting to care packages. [Gothamist]
What we’re watching: The Times’s Trip Gabriel and Times contributing writers discuss how the pandemic is affecting the political standing of Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, among others, on “The New York Times Close Up With Sam Roberts.” The show airs Friday at 8, Saturday at 1: 30 p.m. and Sunday at 12: 30 p.m. [CUNY TV].
And finally: A virtual social weekend
The Times’s Melissa Guerrero writes:
Although most performance spaces, museums and community centers are closed, people are finding creative ways to connect through virtual events and programs. Here are some suggestions for maintaining a New York social life this weekend while keeping a safe distance from other people:
Mercado Vicente’s digital kickoff party
Friday at 10 p.m., celebrate Mercado Vicente, an index that features work by a global roster of young and emerging multidisciplinary Filipinx artists. The kickoff of this digital palengke, or “wet market” in Tagalog, also will feature a D.J. set of O.P.M., or Original Pilipino Music, by Simon Te, a film director involved in the project.
Attendees can view exhibits from illustrators, fashion designers, photographers and more, and take part in a conversation with some of them.
“Mercado Vicente is my love letter to the Philippines,” said Jan Vincent Gonzales, the founder and director of the New York-based consulting firm behind the project. “It is the love letter to my mother, to my late Tita Grace and to everyone that has ever believed in me for doing what I do. It is to show every Filipinx person that wants to follow their passion and needs a friend to say, ‘Yes, you can do it.’”
To R.S.V.P. for the live video stream, email [email protected].
Love as a kind of cure
At 12: 30 p.m. Saturday, New York-based medical professionals and a mental health coach will discuss topics including inequities in the health care system that affect black and brown communities and advice on how to manage your mental health while staying indoors.
The conversation is moderated by the organizers and co-founders of the Toni Morrison Festival, Magogodi Makhene and Cleyvis Natera.
“We knew that art and creativity are an expression of love,” Ms. Makhene said. “What we offer through art can bring joy and light in a very dark time while keeping folks awake and activated to the sting of inequality.”
Visit the event page to R.S.V.P. and to get the Zoom link.
It’s Friday — get creative.
Metropolitan Diary: Perfect fit
Dear Diary:
I was browsing in the men’s department at Neiman Marcus when a knitted black designer blazer caught my eye.
Although the tag said it was on sale for a fraction of its original price, it still cost more than I would normally care to spend on such an item of clothing.
Tempting fate, I tried it on. It fit me perfectly, of course.
Just then, a saleswoman appeared in the aisle where I was standing.
“It fits you perfectly,” she said.
Possibly trying to talk myself out of buying it and probably in hopes of dissuading her from trying to sell it to me, I responded.
“Yes,” I said, “but I really don’t need it.”
“We don’t sell things that people need,” she replied without missing a beat.
— Joe Caputo
New York Today is published weekdays around 6 a.m. Sign up here to get it by email. You can also find it at nytoday.com.
We’re experimenting with the format of New York Today. What would you like to see more (or less) of? Post a comment or email us: [email protected].
