New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces "good news" in virus fight but warns against complacency
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday there is "good news" in the state's fight against the coronavirus. He pointed out that the decreasing number of new hospitalizations and other data suggested the state was "bending the curve."
"There is good news in what we are seeing: that what we have done, and what we are doing, is actually working and it's making a difference," he said.
He noted that the state took "dramatic actions" — closed schools and businesses and urged social distancing. "And it's working. It is flattening the curve, and we see that again today — so far."
He said the number of patients who are hospitalized is down for another day. But he cautioned: "It's not a time to get complacent." He urged people to stay home and remain disciplined.
"We're not through it. It's not over. We are in the midst of it," he said.
"The bad news isn't just bad."
He also said there is bad news, and it "isn't just bad. The bad news is actually terrible." The state has again seen its highest single-day death toll yet: 779 deaths over a 24-hour period.
"Just to put a perspective on this, 9/11, which so many of us lived through in this state and in this nation: 2,753 lives lost. This crisis, we've lost 6,268 New Yorkers."
Cuomo is directing flags in the state be flown at half-mast in honor of those who lost their lives to the virus.