Manhattan, New York
Manhattan, New YorkiStock

The number of coronavirus cases in New York City doubled to 3,615 Thursday with increased testing, up from 1,871 late Wednesday, The New York Post reports.

The new figures released by City Hall also show that 22 people in the five boroughs had died from the disease as of 10:00 a.m.

According to the tally, Brooklyn now has the largest number of cases with 1,030 positives. Meanwhile, there are 980 cases in Queens, 976 in Manhattan, 436 in The Bronx and 165 on Staten Island.

City Hall also released data that showed 554 people had been hospitalized as of 5:00 p.m. Wednesday. More than a quarter of them, 160, are in intensive care.

The tallies were released as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced expanded, appointment-only testing at 10 hospitals, seven Gotham Health clinics and four drive-thru sites in order to keep potentially infected people out of emergency rooms.

The expansion should allow for over 300 more people to get tested daily.

“If we’re going to curb this epidemic, we need fast and expansive testing for those most at risk for serious illness,” de Blasio said in a statement.

“Now we can get more New Yorkers the care they need at the right time — helping save lives, one test at a time,” he added.

City inspectors have visited 8,150 business and religious institutions and issued six violations for failure to comply with coronavirus regulations.

Earlier this week, de Blasio ordered schools closed until April 20 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Last Thursday, de Blasio declared a state of emergency in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, after the number of confirmed cases in the city had more than doubled over a period of 24 hours.