'The bad news is actually terrible'- NY Gov. Cuomo reports 779 more deaths

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday told reporters that the state saw its highest single-day coronavirus death toll of 779 people.

He ordered all flags in New York to be flown at half-staff.

New York's efforts at social distancing are working to get the coronavirus outbreak under control even as the state reported an additional 779 deaths, a record high for a second day, Cuomo said on Wednesday.

The governor acknowledged that it was a "very real possibility" that deaths in New York were being undercounted as people died in their homes, and called for continued adherence to business closures and other social distancing steps.

Cuomo ordered all flags to be flown at half-staff across New York, where 6,268 people have now died from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, accounting for nearly half the deaths in the United States.