April 20, 2020- Albany, NY- Governor Andrew Cuomo delivers his daily press briefing on COVID-19, Coronavirus in the Red Room of the Capito (Darren McGee- Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that hospitalization rates in the state have leveled off and the daily count of deaths due to COVID-19 is at its lowest in three weeks.
The governor said 478 people died from the novel coronavirus on Sunday, down from a peak of nearly 800 just a week earlier.
The Governor also confirmed 4,726 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 247,512 confirmed cases in New York State.
Despite the news of the virus abating, New York City canceled three of biggest events in June – the Puerto Rican Day parade, the Israel parade and the gay pride march.
Also the hospitalization rates statewide could be an indicator that the crisis is slowing in New York City, but that doesn’t mean its the case in other areas. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz on Tuesday morning tweeted that 247 COVID-19 patients were admitted to the hospital on April 19. That is the highest number so far in Erie County.
Cuomo also called on the federal government to provide hazard pay for essential public workers on the front lines, proposing a 50 percent bonus for these workers.
“Essential public workers are the ones on the front lines every day carrying us through this crisis, and we must ensure their efforts and sacrifice are appropriately recognized,” Governor Cuomo said. “This crisis is not over yet, and as long as these workers continue to work and expose themselves to the virus, they should be properly compensated. I am calling on the federal government to provide hazard pay to these frontline workers and give them a 50 percent bonus because they are the true heroes in this crisis.”
According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, 41 percent of frontline workers are people of color. Of those frontline workers, 45 percent of public transit workers, 57 percent of building cleaning service workers and 40 percent of healthcare workers are people of color. People of color are also disproportionately represented in delivery and childcare services, and approximately one third of frontline workers are members of low-income households.
Gov. Cuomo also said on Monday the business and social restrictions imposed by the NY on PAUSE executive order will remain in place on a statewide basis as he and other governors discuss reopening strategies.
“Nobody disagrees that we want to get out of this situation. Nobody. You don’t need protests to convince anyone in this country that we have to get back to work, and we have to get the economy going, and we have to get out of our homes,” Cuomo said. “The question is going to become, how, when, how fast, and what do we mean in terms of reopening? With reopening, I want to set the bar higher. Meaning the question shouldn’t be, when do we reopen, and what do we reopen? The question should be, let’s use this situation, this crisis, this time, to actually learn the lessons, value from the reflection, and let’s reimagine what we want society to be.”
The governor said a multi-state regional coalition is the smartest way to reopen the economy, adding that he would create a “reimagine task force” but also indicated it would focus primarily on downstate New York, which has been the most affected area.
The governor’s announcements runs counter to the regional reopening plan proposed by local Sen. George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell last week.
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