Cuomo urges caution as New York reopens: "This COVID has not gone away"
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urged caution on Thursday as New York's economy reopens. "This COVID has not gone away," he said.
Cuomo said states across the country are seeing spikes in coronavirus cases.following nationwide reopenings.
"COVID is still out there. It's increasing in 21 states. Fourteen states have the highest number ever of COVID cases, and if you look at what's going on, it tends to be after the reopening."
He said New York is one of the exceptions.
"The numbers are good," he said. "Everything we've done has been exactly right up until now. But that's up until now. And you can make a mistake today that wipes out everything we've done, so you have to stay smart."
Five regions of New York state - Central New York, Mohawk Valley, Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes and the North Country.- have all been cleared to start Phase 3 of reopening on Friday. The state is also allowing localities to open playgrounds and public pools at their discretion.
New York City, once the epicenter of the crisis, began Phase 1 of reopening this week after an 80-day lockdown.
Cuomo said the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations are still declining in the state and that 36 deaths were reported on Wednesday.