Today is a day in the state of new york with very mixed emotions based on two very different pieces of information we have. I am trying to work through the mixed emotions for myself. I will present the facts and we will go from there. There is good news and what we are seeing. What we have done, and what we are doing is actually working and making a difference. We took dramatic actions in this state. New York Pause Program closed down schools and businesses, social distancing. And it is working. It is flattening the curve. And we see that again today, so far. Meaning what . Meaning, that curve is flattening because we are flattening the curve by what we are doing. If we stop what we are doing, you will see that curve change. That curve is a function of what we do day in and day out. Right now it is flattening. The number of patients hospitalized is down. Again, we dont just look at daytoday, you look at the threeday trend. But that number is down. The threeday average trend is also down. Anecdotally, individual hospitals, larger systems are reporting that some of them are actually releasing more people than are coming in. So they are net down. So we see the flattening of the curve. We have more capacity in the Hospital System than ever before, so we have had more capacity in that system to absorb more people. The sharing of equipment, which has been one of the beautiful cooperative, generous acts among different partners has worked. If the hospitalization rate keeps decreasing the way it is now, the system should stabilize over these next weeks, which will minimize the need for overflow on the system that we have built in at javits and the u. S. Ns comfort. That is all good news. There is a big caution sign, if we continue doing what were doing. If we continue doing what were doing. We are flattening the curve because we are rigorous about social distancing. If we continue doing what we are doing, we believe the curve will continue to fatten. But it is not a time to get complacent. Remember what happened in italy when the entire Health Care System became overrun . We have to remain diligent and disciplined. But there is no doubt that we are now bending the curve, and there is no doubt that we cant stop doing what were doing. That is the good news. The bad news isnt just bad. The bad news is terrible. Highest single day death toll yet, 779 people. When you look at the death toll, it has been going steadily up. It reached a new height yesterday. The number of deaths, as a matter of fact, the number of deaths will continue to rise as those hospitalized for a longer period of time pass away. The longer you are on a ventilator, the less likely you will come off the ventilator. Dr. Fauci spoke to me about this and he was 100 right. The lagging indicator between theitalizations and deaths, hospitalizations can start to drop, deaths increase because people who have been in the hospital for 11 days, 14 days, 17 days pass away. That is what we are seeing. Hospitalizations drop and the death toll rises. I understand the science of it, the facts and the logic. It is still incredibly difficult to deal with. Every number is a face. That has been painfully obvious to me everyday. But we have lost people. Many of them frontline workers, many of them Health Care Workers, people doing the essential functions that we all needed for society to go on. And they were putting themselves at risk, and they knew they were. Many of them Vulnerable People who this vicious predator of a virus targeted from day one. This virus attacked the vulnerable and attacked the weak. And it is our job as a society to protect the vulnerable. This is what that has always been about from day one. And it still is about. Be responsible. Not just for yourself, but to protect the vulnerable. Be responsible because the life you risk may not be your own. Those people walking into an emergency room every day, put themselves at peril, dont make their situation worse. Dont in fact infect yourself or someone else so their situation becomes more dangerous. Just to put a perspective on this, 9 11, which so many of us lived through in this state and in this nation, 2753 lives lost. 268s crisis, we have lost 6 new yorkers. Im going to direct all flags to be flown at half mast in honor of those we have lost to this virus. The question from everyone, my daughters, im sure around most peoples dinner tables, when will things go back to the way they were . I dont think it is about going back. I dont think its ever about going back. I think the question is always about going forward. And that is what we will have to deal with. It is about learning from what we have experienced and growing and moving forward. When will be return to normal . I do not think we return to normal. I dont think we return to yesterday, where we were. I think if we are smart, we achieve a new normal. The way we are understanding a new normal when it comes to the economy and the environment. Now we understand the new normal in terms of health and Public Health. We have to learn just the way we have been learning about the new normal in other aspects of society. We have to learn what it means global pandemic. How small the world has gotten. Someone sneezes in asia today, you catch a cold tomorrow. Whatever happens in any country on the globe can get on an airplane and be here overnight. Understanding this phenomenon and having a new appreciation for it. How our Public Health system has to be prepared, and the scale to which we need a Public Health system. Look at the way we are scrambling right now to make this work. We have to learn from that. I think we have also learned positive lessons. We found Ways Technology that we never explored before. You have a new York State Court system that, thank you chief judges, basically developing a virtual online court system that has all sorts of positive benefits going forward. Using technology for health care, using Technology Work from technology for education, these are all positives. Testing capacity, which we still have to develop, that is going to be the bridge from where we are today to the new economy. In my opinion. It is going to be a testing informed transition to the new economy where people who have the antibodies, people who are negative, people who have been exposed and are now better, those are the people who can go to work. You know who they are because you can do testing. But that we have developed a sense of scale in dealing with this there are also lessons to be learned, why are more africanamericans and latinos affected . We are seeing this around the country. The numbers in new york are not as bad as the disparities we see in other places, but there still are apparently disparities. Why . I understand that but i think there is something more to it. It always seems that the poorest people pay the highest price. Why is that . Why is that . Whatever the situation is. Natural disasters, hurricane katrina, the people on those rooftops were not rich white people. Why . Why is it that the poorest people pay the highest price . But lets figure it out. Lets do the work. Lets do the research. Lets learn from this moment and learn from these lessons and do it now. We are going to do more testing in minority communities not just testing for the virus. Lets actually get research and data that can inform us as to why we are having more people in minority communities, people in certain neighborhoods, why do they have higher rates of infection . I get the morbidity, get the underlying illness issue, but what else is at play . Are more Public Workers latino and africanamerican who dont have a choice but to go out there every day and drive the bus and drive the train and show up for work and wind up subjecting themselves to in this case the virus, whereas many other people who had the option just absented themselves. They live in more dense communities, more urban environments, but what is it . Lets learn from that and lets do it now . Im going to ask our suny albany chief chief to do it right now. Do more testing in minority communities now. With more Data Research done now. So lets learn now. Department of health will be doing it along with northwell. But lets learn these lessons now. We are going to make an additional 600 payment to all unemployed new yorkers. The federal government says they will reimburse us, but people need money now. So new york will do that immediately. We are also expending the period extending the period covered by Unemployment Benefits for an additional 13 weeks to 39 weeks. That should be a relief. On voting, i have seen people on television voting in other states. This is totally nonsensical. God bless them for having such diligence to their civic duty that they would stand on a line to vote, but people shouldnt have to make that choice. By executive order, all new yorkers can vote absentee on the june 23 primaries. I want to say thank you to the many places and people working with the state of new york. Mercury medical donated 2400 bipap machines technically not ventilators but they can be modified to effectively ventilate. They were brought up from florida. Thank you very much jet blue for doing that. Oregon and to thank Washington State and california for freeing up ventilators. I want to thank the direct care workers who are doing a fantastic job and they are doing it everyday. I want to thank the state workers who are showing up and doing a great job every day. Every first responder. This has been a long battle and it is going to go on. But i want them to know how thankful we all are for what theyre doing. I want people to remember that we are flattening that curve and if anything, we double down now on our diligence. We are going to start a social Media Campaign, who are you staying home for . Right . Its not about staying home for yourself, stay home for others. Stay home for the Vulnerable People who, if they get this virus, are in a really bad place in life. Stay home for the Health Care Worker who is in the emergency room. Because you dont want to infect anybody else, who then puts another greater load on our Health Care System. So who are you staying home for . I am staying home for my mother. But everyone it is not about just you, it is about all of us. Who are you staying home for . We will start a social Media Campaign that does that. Thank you to all the new yorkers for what they have done. And we still have more to do. We are by no means out of the woods. Do not miss read what you have seen in the data and the charts. That is a pure product of our actions and here. And behavior. If we behave differently, you will see those numbers change. I just doubled the fine on disobeying social distancing. Why . Because if anything, we have to get more diligent. Not less diligent. We have more to do. And that is new york tough, but tough is more than just tough, tough is smart and disciplined and unified and loving. And a is loving. The toughest guys are tough enough to love. Last point, our brothers and sisters in the Jewish Community celebrate passover. Tonight. We wish them a happy passover. The Jewish Community has had a long and difficult year besides any of this. The number of incidents of antisemitism across the country, the violence they have seen even in this state that has such a large jewish population, we wish them well. The message of passover i know helps me today, and i offer to others to consider. Passover says we remember the past, we learn from the past, we remember the lessons of the past, we teach a new generation those lessons. But, there is a message of hope in passover. Next year in jerusalem. Next year in jerusalem. Next year at the promised land. Next year will be better. And yes, this has been a difficult month. We will learn a lot and move forward and we will be better for it. Questions . Frontline workers [indiscernible] talking about Grocery Store clerks, people who are taking public transit, childcare. Is it time to scale back some of these Grocery Stores that are open, some of these businesses that are open, to bridge that gap . Gov. Cuomo yes. The question is, many essential workers, public workforce, tend to be africanamerican and latino. I think that is probably right. I dont know the statistics. I think that is probably right. I also believe the frontline workers have a greater exposure than most people. I think that is one of the things we will find when we do this research on wires the on why is the infection rate higher with the africanamerican community. Again, the disparity we are seeing in new york is nothing otherhat you see in places across the country. But i think it is something we have to understand. I dont think we can reduce the essential services. We are down to basically food, pharmacy, basic transportation which, frankly, is more for essential workers to get where they are going. If you didnt have public transportation, you wouldnt have Health Care Workers showing up. You wouldnt have the grocery workers showing up. I do not think we are in a position to say eat less or you use less drugs or have no health care. I think we need to get through this now, and see what changes we can make in the future. [indiscernible] gov. Cuomo excuse me, one second. Was the state slow to shut everything down . Did the new york pause come too late . Do you wish you had started shutting down businesses sooner considering San Francisco had shut down prior . Do you think new york was late . Gov. Cuomo no, no. I think new york was early. I think the actions we took were more dramatic than most. Frankly, we were criticized as being premature. So, no. I think if you could rewind the tape, you have to go back to last november. What was going around what was happening around the world, and what was the effect going to be here. My point about global pandemics, we were watching china, watching italy, we were watching other countries well, extrapolate from that on a national basis. What was the first part . Reporter just wondering if you think should have shut down the schools . There is a conflict between the city schools. Mayor de blasio and you were having the debate over that. Should any of those actions have come further . Gov. Cuomo it wasnt a debate. I made the decision to close down city schools. There was a debate about closing city schools and people thought i closed schools prematurely. That was the ongoing debate. In retrospect, it shows what we did was right. Im sorry, karen. Reporter on the june 23 voting, do you envision polling places being open . Many of the poll workers are over workers. Or would everyone vote by mail . Gov. Cuomo i think we are just saying absentee voting is an option. We are saying absentee voting is an option. There is a temporary illness provision, it will include the risk of contracting covid19. And i think we will take a wait and see approach as we get closer on one or on whether or not polls should be open. Reporter covid data to the public, many should all facilities do so . Gov. Cuomo do you understand that question . Reporter the community on long island that is seeing a high number. Gov. Cuomo the landing is a nursing home that is releasing data, should others be releasing data . Is that the question . We are tracking the Nursing Homes. We want to protect privacy of individuals in Nursing Homes. We do differ that back to the homes themselves. We do track it. Reporter are there other known outbreaks or clusters at Nursing Homes . What we have seen in multiple Nursing Homes across the state, particularly downstate we do track them. Some of them are the result of one person. Others have gotten it. We are looking at that closely. Reporter cant the state release that information, like other states and countries have . It goes back to the fact that the nursing home, it is in many cases where they live. It is not like you can leave a hospital we try to protect their privacy more. But we do track it. If there is a concern we investigate it immediately. June 7 is that going to be a rule of thumb for Mass Gatherings . Gov. Cuomo no. I wouldnt use what they think. Reporter you dont anticipate Mass Gatherings before june 7 . Gov. Cuomo i dont know but i wouldnt use what broadway thinks is a good barometer for anything unless they have been in the health care. I think, look, all of these projections basically turned out to be wrong. This is a hard thing to model because besides all the variables, you are modeling public behavior and what people will do. If you go back and look at even models that were put out in january, they had a premise about how effective social distancing would be, what the population would actually comply with. They turned out to be wrong. I think they can be wrong either way. I am worried about people saying the number of cases is going down, it is now safer. It is not. I am more afraid of the number changing because people read something into it that is not there. If you reduce the compliance, you will see numbers go up within days literally, days. So, no. I take it one day at a time. Look at the data for the day. To april 29 on the school closings. Even thats a projection. I wouldnt go past that. Reporter what about other areas of the state . We seek these concentrations on long island. Are there other places where you havent seen cases, do you foresee opening schools . Gov. Cuomo you havent seen these cases yet, jimmy. Tense, and be of careful of counting our chickens before they are hatched. We have not seen cases yet, we are in the midst of this. Dont start doing the retrospective like its over because that is the attitude we have to avoid. You will see more cases in upstate new york. I will bet you whatever you want to that. You will see more cases on long island. Ill bet you whatever you want to bet right now. So we are not through. Its not over. We are in the midst of it. We have some good news in that what we are doing is working and by the way, we have all been killing ourselves, rig