United Airlines To Cancel 90% Of Flights To New York, New Jersey Airports - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th April, 2020) United Airlines, a major US airline, will temporarily cancel up to 90 percent of its flights to and from Newark and La Guardia airports in New Jersey and New York, respectively, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the WNBC broadcaster reported, citing a letter from the company's CEO Greg Hart to the employees.

The decision came after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged the residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to refrain from traveling within the country for 14 days.

"The situation in New York and New Jersey worsens. You are on the front lines of this crisis at our airports and onboard out aircraft, providing an essential service to these communities and our customers," Hart's words read, as quoted by the media outlet.

The flights will not be resumed for at least three weeks.

The US state of New York has recorded its largest daily increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases as 10,841 positive tests were reported on Saturday, with the death toll also rising by 630.

As many as 10,841 new cases of the disease have been registered, raising the total number of cases reported in the state since the start of the outbreak to 113,704.

The COVID-19 death toll in the state of New York now stands at 3,565. About 15,905 people are currently receiving treatment for the disease in hospitals, and 4,126 of those are currently in intensive care units.

New York has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the US, which itself has reported more than double the amount of cases than any other country.

According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 301,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the United States with over 8,000 fatal cases. Over 14,000 patients have recovered.