Faint glimmers of hope as virus deaths slow in places

Italy’s day-to-day increase in new Covid-19 cases dipped again and Spain has seen deaths and new infections drop.

The steep rise in coronavirus deaths in New York appears to be levelling off in a possible sign that social distancing is working in the most lethal hot spot in the US, the governor said — a trend that seems to have taken hold even more convincingly in hard-hit Italy and Spain.

Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that this is no time to relax the restrictions aimed at keeping people from getting too close to one another, and he ordered bigger fines against violators.