Cuomo: 5-year-old New York boy dies of virus-linked illness

NEW YORK (AP) — The death of a 5-year-old New York boy is challenging assumptions that children are less susceptible to COVID-19 complications, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday. Also, some New York City parks will see stepped-up policing to stem the spread of the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. And 2,500 members of a “test and trace corps” will be in place by early June to combat the virus, the mayor said.

Details on virus-related developments across New York:

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CHILD DEATHS, ILLNESSES

A 5-year-old boy in New York state has died of an illness linked to COVID-19, and dozens of other children in the state have fallen severely ill with a similar malady that scientists have linked to the coronavirus, Cuomo said Friday.

Cuomo did not provide details about the child, who he said died Thursday. But he added there have been 73 reported cases in the state of children becoming severely ill with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease — a rare inflammatory condition in children — and toxic shock syndrome.

“So caution to all people who may have believed their child couldn’t be affected by COVID, this information suggests we may want to revisit that ‘fact,' that assumption,” the Democratic governor said.

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PARK POLICING

Police officers will start limiting access to three New York City parks whose scofflaw visitors have become poster children for bad social distancing, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

Users of the parks, two built on Manhattan piers that jut into the Hudson River and one on Brooklyn's East River waterfront, have been shamed on social media in recent weeks after images appeared showing mostly young people, without masks, sprawled on blankets with little regard for rules barring people from getting within 6 feet of anyone they...