Cuomo extends New York lockdown ‘in coordination with other states’ to mid-May despite claim that ‘worst is over’

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is extending his state’s social-distancing measures to May 15, along with unspecified “other states,” while claiming his policies have worked to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The stay-at-home directives, social-distancing guidelines and closures of “non-essential” businesses that comprise the governor’s “New York Pause” executive order have been extended a further two weeks, Cuomo revealed during his daily coronavirus press conference on Thursday. The order was previously due to expire on April 30.

While praising the fact that 600 fewer people were hospitalized than the previous day as part of an encouraging trend, Cuomo cautioned against relaxing any of the stringent regulations that have brought his state’s economy to a standstill and forced most of its population to work from home – assuming they still have jobs.

“The close-down has worked,” he proclaimed, boasting that his policies have reduced the transmission rate to 0.9 even as he complained the rate was not low enough. He refused to speculate on when businesses might reopen, stating only that there would be “a phased return to a new normal.” 

Contact-tracing and widespread tracing will be required before the economy can reopen, Cuomo explained, calling on the federal government for assistance. The state will also have to strengthen its healthcare system, he said.

New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic in the US, with a total of 12,192 deaths so far attributed to the virus. The governor recently called for mandatory mask-wearing in public for all New Yorkers over the age of two, while also appearing to offer up his state's population as test subjects for pharmaceutical companies working on vaccines.

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