Update, 7:24PM: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in New York has reached 89. The additional 13 cases were based in Westchester County. During the press conference, Cuomo said he was particularly concerned about the transmission of the virus in Westchester.

"Westchester is an obvious problem for us," Cuomo said. "They talk about the contagion in clusters and then clusters tend to infect more and more people. So obviously you want to pay special attention to those situations."

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Original story: Saturday, March 7, 2:10PM

Confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus now stand at 76, prompting Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare a state of emergency on Saturday afternoon. The number has risen since Friday afternoon and includes 57 from Westchester County, 11 from New York City, four in Nassau County, two in Rockland County and two in Saratoga County. The newer cases are 23 in Westchester, which are related to a New Rochelle lawyer in his 50s who had tested positive; seven individuals in New York City, including two who had recently come off a cruise ship and five who contracted the virus through community spread; two Saratoga County cases include a 57-year-old pharmacist and a 52-year-old woman who was in contact with a positive person from Pennsylvania.

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"Westchester is an obvious problem for us," Cuomo said during the press conference early Saturday afternoon. "They talk about the contagion in clusters and then clusters tend to infect more and more people. So obviously you want to pay special attention to those situations."

Cuomo said his office remained in regular contact with Westchester County officials to coordinate quarantine efforts there and possibly extend quarantine periods. Outside visits to Westchester nursing homes have been suspended since those populations are most at risk.

Cuomo criticized the $8.3 federal appropriation bill as insufficient in the funding afforded New York.

"New York had in total $35 million. We had already appropriated $40 million dollars. We're probably spending at the rate -- rough estimate -- $30 million per week right now," Cuomo said.

He criticized the perceived shortchange in spending for the state as one piece in a pattern of the Trump administration's neglect of the state and said he voiced concern to New York's Congressional delegation. He also lambasted the CDC as slowing down efforts for adequate testing.

"Our relationship with the CDC is also problematic on an ongoing basis. We have the capacity to perform tests. We have a sophisticated state lab," Cuomo said. "We are not reliant on CDC for doing the testing. CDC is a bottleneck for this nation in doing the testing."

The declaration of a state of emergency will allow expedited purchasing and expedited hiring, particularly for local health departments that bear the brunt for much of the labor involved with monitoring.

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