N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo Anxious To Reopen New York, Says ‘Worst Is Over’ From Coronavirus

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced on Monday his plan for reopening the state, proposing a gradual increase of economic activity while monitoring the rate of coronavirus infection.

“As much as we have this emotion, we want it to happen and we want it to happen now [and] we can’t take this anymore, it is a delicate balance,” Cuomo said at his daily press briefing, noting problems other countries that have reopened have faced.

“I want to learn from those other countries and I want to make sure that we know from our studies and assessment of what’s going on in those other countries what worked and what didn’t work,” he added.

Cuomo said his plan involves slowly easing restrictions on self-isolation while increasing economic activity, all while more testing is conducted and the rate of infections is being monitored.

“If you see that infection rate start ticking up … you know you’ve opened the valve too fast,” he said.

Cuomo’s comments come the day after he announced he was coordinating with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut on reopening their states “as soon as possible.”

Cuomo told New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that is it is too early to decide whether public schools will remain closed until the end of June.

“If you say the schools are closed through June, you are effectively saying businesses are closed through June,” Cuomo said.

New York is by far the state hit hardest by the novel coronavirus, reporting over 195,000 cases and more than 10,000 deaths. There are more cases in New York alone than any other country, but experts are hopeful that the worst is over.

“Yes, I think you can say the worst is over,” Cuomo said Monday. “It has not overwhelmed the health care system. We have controlled the spread.” He added, “The worst is over—if we continue to be smart.”