Cuomo says federal government is making "historic mistake" by advising states to reopen
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that the federal government is making a "historic mistake" in advising some states to reopen despite rising numbers of coronavirus cases.
"The federal government is making a mistake ... a historic mistake," Cuomo said at his daily press briefing. The governor noted that at least 19 states have seen cases have gone up in the last two weeks. Six states reported record increases on Tuesday.
Cuomo said President Trump's claim that cases have increased because the nation's testing has ramped up is a false one. "That is just not true. As a matter of fact, as a matter of mathematics, as a matter of data, that is just not a true statement," Cuomo said.
He pointed to the fact that in addition to positive test results increasing in many states, the rate of people walking into hospitals with COVID-19 has also increased. "More people are getting sick," he said.
The governor also cited a new projection from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, a research institute once utilized by the White House for coronavirus projections, that another 85,000 or so deaths are now projected by October 1.
"These policies have real consequences. This is a moment in history where it's not going to be about the partisan divide when they write the books… there's going to be real life and death consequences to this."
Cuomo once again reported that New York has the state's lowest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations since March 20. As of Wednesday, the state has 1,400 hospitalizations due to COVID-19.
He also shared that New York had 17 coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the lowest number since the pandemic began. "The only way I could feel better is if that number ever becomes zero," he said.
New York administered about 60,000 coronavirus tests on Tuesday, according to the governor. From those tests, less than 1% tested positive.
On Tuesday, Cuomo said: "We are basically at a number that is so low it may even be statistically questionable, because when you get down to 24 you are talking about literally how doctors decide a cause of death in some situations that may have multiple reasons behind it."