As coronavirus cases in New York City topped 30,000, President Donald Trump said he would issue a travel advisory urging people in the region to avoid traveling out of the area for 14 days.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday he worried the advisory would keep some families apart.
Meanwhile, new data is showing which parts of the city are being hit the hardest by disease and that nearly a quarter of the people who've died of coronavirus in the state were nursing home residents.
Coronavirus is overwhelming some of New York City's poorest neighbourhoods, according to new data released by the city.
Queens accounts for 32 per cent of the city's more than 30,000 confirmed cases as of Saturday more than any other borough.
Neighbourhoods such as Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona, which are generally poor, densely packed and have large non-English speaking populations, have been among the hardest hit, according to a city map showing percent ranges of people testing positive for the disease, also known as COVID-19.
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In those areas, between 69 per cent and 86 per cent of the tests done have come back positive.
A hospital in Elmhurst has been overrun with coronavirus cases. One day last week, 13 hospital patients with the virus died.
Statistics on coronavirus cases do not reflect everyone who may have the virus, because many people have been told to manage their illness at home and are not getting tested.
In all, 672 people have died from coronavirus in New York City, which continues to be the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.
On Saturday, after saying he was weighing the idea of a mandatory quarantine for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, President Donald Trump tweeted that instead he'd issue advisory urging people in those states to avoid any nonessential travel for two weeks.
De Blasio said he worried about the advisory's impact on families with members in New York and other places who were looking to reunite.
We've got to respect, in the middle of a crisis, families have a right to be together, de Blasio said.
All 50 U.S. states have reported some cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, but New York state has the most, with over 52,000 positive tests for the illness and more than 700 deaths.
About 7,300 people were in New York hospitals Saturday, including about 1,800 in intensive care.
About 20 per cent of coronavirus cases in New York City have led to hospitalisations, putting a strain on personnel and resources such as ventilators and protective gear.
Mayor Bill de Blasio reiterated his fears that without reinforcements the city will run out of masks, gowns and other hospital supplies by next Sunday and ventilators sooner.
With the expected peak of cases in the city still two to three weeks away, de Blasio told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday that the city also needs new waves of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel.
We need to get them relief, de Blasio said. They can't keep up at this pace for weeks and weeks and weeks ahead and expect to save lives the way we need them to."