Cuomo says New York and other East Coast states to continue shutdown of nonessential businesses up to May 15 [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Gov. Andrew Cuomo says restriction measure extended up to one month, admitting that succeeding moves are yet to be planned.
• The New York governor notes that there’s a significant decrease in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations by Wednesday, the lowest since the pandemic began.
• Cuomo added that the number of intensive care units patients and individuals needing intubations also declined.

On Thursday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state, along with other states in the East Coast, is to extend the strict measures and closure of nonessential establishments up to May 15.

The decision was made as government officials continue to face challenges on how to reopen some aspects of the economy without compromising the health of the general public.

Cuomo announced the decision during his daily presser, saying that New York will continue to be on pause, and action was also coordinated with other states. He added that they have to go on with policies as they wanted to see more decline in coronavirus infection rates.

The lockdown has initially been scheduled to ease up by April 30.

Gov. Cuomo also laid out his plans on a collaborative working set up with other governors under coordinated efforts to cautiously reopen businesses. He currently leads the working committee of seven other governors from the Northeastern United States, including Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

While Cuomo said that they decided to extend the close-down policies for another month, they haven’t determined yet what will happen next, noting that they will work on the data as it shows.

Also, Cuomo didn’t stipulate if how many or all states will also be extending their quarantine measures. Delaware, though, already continued to close nonessential businesses up to May 15, while New Jersey orders are in effect indefinitely, or at least until the same period as New York.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy reiterated that it’s still not advisable to reopen schools and sports events for the next four weeks.

Murphy added that coordinated measures with other governors would not mean a full adherence to everything, but more of an organized approach, and at least not in contradiction with other state’s move.

Meanwhile, Cuomo reported that there’s a substantial drop in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations last Wednesday, recording its lowermost stats since the outbreak began.

Cuomo further noted that peopled admitted under intensive care units and those who require intubations also had a significant decrease for the first instance.

The NY governor said that at least 2,000 new individuals are tested positive with coronavirus throughout the state daily, and they also saw the lowest increase of deaths in the past six days with 606 fatalities on Wednesday.

COVID-19 killed no less than 31,000 people in the U.S, and almost half of these deaths are from New York.

Source: CNBC