New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that the state’s coronavirus shutdown will be extended to May 15 in coordination with other states.
“What happens after then? I don’t know,” Cuomo said of the shutdown extension, adding that he does not want to “project beyond” May 15. “We will see depending on what the data shows.”
The governor said New York recorded 606 new deaths resulting from the virus, the lowest daily toll in 10 days, which pushes the state’s total deaths over 12,000. New York currently has more than 213,000 cases of the coronavirus throughout the state.
However, fewer people are being put on ventilators and admitted to the ICU, and the hospitalization rate has also gone down, Cuomo said.
“The close down has worked,” he said. “However, we’re not there yet.”
“It means we can control the virus,” the governor said. “We did not know for sure we could do that.”
Testing for the coronavirus is the “single-best tool to inform decisions,” he said, adding that New York conducted 500,000 tests for the illness in 30 days.
The governor also expanded his executive order requiring all residents age 2 or older to wear face coverings when outside their homes to include when people take public and private transit. The order goes into effect Friday evening.
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are working in tandem on a “coordinated action plan” to reopen the economy, Cuomo said.