In slight uptick, 109 die of coronavirus in NY state Saturday

More than 100 people died of coronavirus Saturday, a slight uptick from the day before, according to Gov. Cuomo.

Saturday’s death toll of 109 marked an increase over the 84 new fatalities recorded Friday — the first time since late March that the daily count had dipped below 100.

“Number of deaths ticked up, which is terrible news, but the overall line is still good,” Cuomo said at a press conference at Jones Beach Theater in Nassau County, noting total hospitalizations were down.

The statewide death toll came to 23,391, according to the Health Department. There were 361,515 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

In New York City, 78 people died in the 24 hours ending Saturday at 6 p.m., bringing the total number of fatalities to 21,216. The city had 195,452 confirmed cases.

Cuomo repeated to deny responsibility for the devastating spread of the virus in New York City and beyond, saying, “What happened to us was no fault of our own.

“We did not have the facts when this started,” he continued, saying the virus came to New York’s region from Europe, before the feds restricted travel from the continent.

The governor and Mayor de Blasio have come under growing criticism for their long wait to impose lockdown measures.

Recent research found 17,500 fewer people would have died in the New York City metropolitan area had lockdown measures gone into effect just a week earlier.

Looking ahead, Cuomo said the state is still on track to begin reopening the Mid-Hudson region on Tuesday and Long Island on Wednesday.

“We have to get the number of deaths down on Long Island and we have to get the number of tracers up,” he said, referring to staff the government is hiring to track down and interview people who came into contact with confirmed coronavirus cases.

Cuomo was speaking at one of several state beaches on Long Island that recently reopened — while New York City’s sandy shores will remain closed for swimming for the foreseeable future, according to de Blasio.

State campgrounds and RV parks were set to open Monday, Cuomo said.

As horrifying as the state’s latest numbers were, the new cases represented steady declines from last month, when there were 3,181 new cases on April 3 and 763 deaths on April 8.

New Yorkers have been anxiously watching the facts and figures as authorities begin easing restrictions here and around the country.

“I don’t know if this is a lull or just the calm before the next storm,” Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) tweeted Sunday.