Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the stay-at-home order for New York residents through May 15. And he’s reminding everyone in the state that the requirement to wear a mask while out in public begins Friday at 8 p.m.
While the daily death toll, at 606 Wednesday, is down from previous days, 2,000 more people were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 and 17,735 are still in the hospital with the disease.
In extending the order to keep schools and businesses shut, Cuomo acknowledged that he has no real ability to enforce it on people.
“But they have done it because they have the facts, they have the information, they understand the risks, they understand the rewards, they understand the consequences, and what they have done worked.”
The governor says he’s received some blowback on the requirement, announced Wednesday, that masks will be required while out in public starting Friday evening, but he says health experts now believe that they help reduce spread of the virus.
“I’m sorry it makes people unhappy,” said Cuomo. “But it really is a simple measure that can save lives.”
The masks will be required where social distancing is not possible, as well as on public transportation, like buses or subways, and while driving or riding in an Uber or Lyft car.
Cuomo says reopening will be conditioned on reducing the infection rate. Right now he says New York’s infection rate is about .9, meaning one person infects slightly less than one other person. He says Wuhan’s infection rate was .3 before they began opening.
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