A visitor wearing a protective mask walks through Domino Park, Friday, May 8, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Photo: AP)

A 5-year-old boy in New York state has died of an illness possibly 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 showing symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease — a rare inflammatory condition in children — and toxic shock syndrome.

The boy’s death is sad news for New Yorkers who believed children were largely unaffected by the coronavirus, Cuomo said.

“So this is every parent’s nightmare, right? That your child may actually be affected by this virus,” the Democratic governor said. “But it’s something we have to consider seriously now.”

Dozens of children elsewhere in the US have been hospitalized with the inflammatory condition that might be linked to the coronavirus and was seen in Europe.

Symptoms include prolonged fever, severe abdominal pain and trouble breathing.