To contain the pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the shutdown till May 15. Dubbed as the epicentre of COVID-19, New York alone witnessed 223,231 cases and 14,198 deaths. Cuomo said, “although we can control the beast, we need to get that infection rate down even more and we are not there yet.”
“We have to continue doing what we”re doing. I”d like to see that infection rate get down even more,” he added. New York has made it mandatory for social distancing beginning from Friday and requires everyone to wear masks when they are outside covers its population of 19.5 million with nearly 45 per cent in New York City.
Cuomo said that he did not know what will happen after May 15, but “we will see depending on what the data shows.” As for reopening the state, he said, “Unpausing New York and reopening our economy is going to be an ongoing process over the coming weeks that we”re working through with other states, but we have to do it in a way that doesn”t drive up the infection rate and create a second wave of the virus.”
