SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was in Albany Tuesday morning to give an update on the state’s COVID-19 situation. He delivered a mixed bag of news, painting a grim picture of the current situation and sending a message of hope for the future.
According to Governor Cuomo, New York is still the hardest-hit state by the COVID-19 pandemic with 5,489 deaths as of this morning.
“That is up from 4,758. That is the largest single-day increase. And we talk about numbers, but that’s 731 people who we lost,” he said.
But while the death toll is still climbing at a greater and greater rate, the amount of new cases over the last three days has gone down. Governor Cuomo said this could be a sign of a flattening curve.
“Right now we’re projecting that we are reaching a plateau in the number of hospitalizations,” he said.
While New York may be close to seeing that light at the end of the tunnel, Governor Cuomo warned that the return to normal life is not going to be a swift and easy transition.
“This is not a light switch that we can just flick one day and everything goes back to normal,” the governor said. “We’re going to have to restart that economy. We’re going to have to restart a lot of systems that were shut down abruptly.”
Governor Cuomo said the New York State Department of Health is working with the FDA on more large-scale tests to help people safely get back to work. Until then, every New Yorker needs to do their part to flatten the curve and get closer to the end of the tunnel.
WATCH: Governor Cuomo’s full press conference from Tuesday, April 7, 2020.
