Gov. Cuomo good morning. Pleasure to be with you. Everyone knows the doctors, the. Udget director today is day 62. It feels like just yesterday. Before we look at the numbers, i just want people to recall the context for the numbers and remember what we have accomplished. We were faced with a situation where the infection rate numbers were going straight up. That was only 30 days ago that we saw the number of cases, people coming into hospital, infection rate, everything was going straight up. That number would have just continued to go straight up, and that is why all the projections, national projections, state projections, local projections turned out to be incorrect. Excuse me. Because they were all believing that that line was going to continue to keep going up. Is new yorkers, americans, change reality. Literally change reality. They literally changed the path of the virus spread and reversed the spread, and that is what the closedown procedures did. That is what the masks that done. That is what the social distancing has done, and new yorkers and all across this country, you saw that number trajectory toat the downward trajectory. Trajectoryin the reduced by about 100,000 the number of new yorkers who would have been hospitalized. 100,000 hospitalized. To be hospitalized, you have to be seriously echo. A portion of those 100,000 would , so all of this inconvenience and turmoil for what . To keep 100,000 people out of hospitals. That is for what. People in0,000 hospitals would have overwhelmed the hospital system, it would have been chaotic, where italy was, and a number of those hundred thousands would have died. Remember that context. And not just for the retrospective, but for the perspective. Changed theions past trajectory. Our present actions will determine the future trajectory. It is not clear. It is cause and effect. You tell me what we do today, i will tell you the number of people sick tomorrow. Up, everyay we get day everyone says, oh, my gosh, i have to do this again. Today iswhat you do going to determine the number of sick tomorrow. And new yorkers have continued to do what they have to do, and you see that number of hospitalizations dropping. And that is all good news, and that is a credit to the community and the social conscience and responsibility of new yorkers. As we are on the decline, how fast is the decline and how low will the number wind up . Right now we are at about 1000 the 900s,per day, in day before that,. 076 that looks like the number is flattening and plateauing at to 1000 cases, three days to five days, between 900 and 1100. That is still too high a number of new cases to have every day. It is not where we were. It is a lot better, for sure, but 1000 new cases every day is still a very high infection rate. It is still a burden on the hospital system, so we now want to take it to the next level. Lets drill down on those 1000 cases. Where are they coming from . Why is the infection rate continuing . Who is getting infected, and and ourt more targeted response, right . We are fighting this statewide, but you have to wage the battle and war on many fronts, the that wee battle, now have it basically stabilized and on the decline, the enemy is on reducing,he virus is lets get more refined and targeted. I am going to be speaking with the hospitals this afternoon and say we want to get more specific information on those new cases that are coming in the door. Where are they coming from . Who are they . To see if we can come up with a more specific target. Daysu look at the past few where the cases have been coming from, this is a three day rolling average, but 17 from manhattan, much of it correlates to population, but much of it also correlates with downstate new york. 17 manhattan, 17 kings, 12 ,ronx, 11 queens, 10 nassau 7 westchester suffix, so it is in downstate and upstate neary county. It gives you a snapshot of where the cases are coming from, but we need more specific information to have a specific battle plan. Literally, where do the new cases come from . Are they essential workers . Are they people staying home and getting infected by a Family Member . Or are they essential workers who are still traveling and possibly getting infected at work . Where do they work . How do they commute . Is this a question of getting infected on Public Transportation . We Just Announced new subway buses subway and buses protocols. Where in the state are these being transferred from a nursing home . Previousheir sex, age, Health Status and demographics . Lets get more specific information from the hospitals to see if we can come up with the strategy more tailored to the reduction of these 1000 cases per day. 289, lowerof deaths, than it has been, but still , and all therrible good numbers, the good news for me, every day, this number just wipes that all away. We have announced a statewide policy for our schools. We did it last march 18. We said we were going to close schools all across the state k12 and Higher Education schools, we waved what was called the 180 day requirement, which is a state regulation schools had to have 180 days of teaching and then transferred to Distance Learning programs, Meal Delivery services, child care options for essential workers. That has worked out well, not perfectly. We had to do it in a rush, but there are lessons we can learn here that could change teaching Going Forward and teaching in these types of situations Going Forward, but it did work. Basically, it functioned well, and teachers did a phenomenal job stepping up to do this. It was a hardship on everyone, but we made the best of the situation. Colleges and universities were also moved to Distance Learning. Campuses were closed, unless a student really needed housing. Schools, obviously by definition, have transportation issues, kids getting on buses. We did not have the Protection Measures to put in place. You have 700 Public School districts, 4800 schools in this state, and then you have 1800 private schools, 89 suny and cuny campuses, and hundred private campuses for a total of 4. 2 million students. Their decisions on the Education System are obviously critically important. Children. Otect our every parent and citizen feels that. We must protect our students and educators. Given the circumstances we are in and the precautions that would have to be put in place to come up with a plan to reopen schools with all those new protocols, how do you operate a school that socially distances without masks, without a Transportation System with a lower number of students on it, how would you get that plan up and running . We do not think it is possible to do that in a way that would , students, anden educators safe, so we are going to have the schools remain closed for the rest of the year. We will continue the Distance Learning programs. Schools have asked about Summer School and whether we will have attendance in schools for Summer Schools. That decision will be made by the end of the month. Again, nobody can predict what the situation is going to be three weeks or four weeks from now, so we are trying to stage decisions at intervals that give us information but also enough time for people to make preparations they need to make, so any decisions on Summer School will be made by the end of the month. In the meantime, meal programs will continue and Child Care Services for essential workers will continue. We want schools to start developing our plan to reopen, and the plan has to have protocols in place that incorporate everything that we are now doing in society and. Verything that we learned we are going to be asking businesses to come up with plans that safeguard workers. When we reopen, we need schools to come up with plans, also, that bring the precautions into the schoolroom. That is also for colleges and the state will approve those plans. Issues that we need to discuss and Pay Attention to, this covid crisis has caused manyficant disruption and unintended consequences, and ancillary issues that have developed, and one of them is when you have people who are put in this situation immediately with no notice, it has caused Serious Mental Health issues. You have anxiety, oppression, insomnia, loneliness, that feeling of isolation. We have seen the use of drugs and Alcohol Consumption go up. This is a chronic problem. If you are feeling these issues, you are not alone. As a matter of fact, half of all theirans have said that Mental Health has been negatively impacted. Do not underestimate the stress of the situation, and it happens on a lot of levels. Three out of four say that their sleep has been affected. You do not know where your next paycheck is coming from. You do not know if your job is going to exist. You are at work one day and then next day they say everything is closed, stay in the house. You are in that house, in a confined situation, or in an apartment and in a confined situation, and you cannot get out. It is difficult for emotional support. We have a hotline set up. People should not be shy in any way or have any second thoughts about calling for help. , and a pervasive problem people should make a call and get the help if they need the help. , in line with what we are talking about, a dramatic increase in the incidence of Domestic Violence. There was a 15 increase in march. A 30 increase in april. That is march is when this started, 15 . April, 30 . That is a frightening rate and level of increase. Yorkers in need, we have a Domestic Violence helpline. You can call, just discussed the issue. You do not have to give your identity, or say where you live, but people who need help should reach out. There is no shame in reaching out and saying i need help. His is a National Epidemic it is a statewide epidemic. Ask for help, and we are here to help. We are especially concerned about these issues for frontline workers. I mean, just think about what the frontline workers are going through. Think about what the Health Care Workers are going through. Now working extended hours. They are seeing a large number of people died. Theyre working in frightening situations. They are worried about their own health. You are worried if they get infected, date then have to go home, worry if they are infected and bringing the advection home, so this is a terribly, stressful, difficult time, especially for the frontline them to and we want know that we not only appreciate what they are doing, but we are there to support them, right . Nt thank you is nice saying that thank you is nice. Acting in gratitude is even nicer. We have a special emotional support hotline for our essential workers. We are also going to direct all carrers to waive any sharing copay deductibles for Mental Health services for essential workers, which means the Mental Health services will be free for frontline workers. Cost. Ey will be at no and too many families and people have said to me, i would go for services, but i do not want to pay the cost. I cannot afford it. I do not want to take that money from my family. That is gone. There is no cost to get mental just wipevices, so that reason away, and get the help that you need. It is even in the best interest of your family. ,ast point, personal opinion who said when life knocks you on your rear, learn, grow up, and get back up. Was it ajay parkins . It was me. Nobody ever said that, it was me. When life knocks you on your learn, grow, and get back up. This has been a difficult situation for everyone, but when life knocks you on your rear, learn and grow, and we will collectively learn and grow. We are going to learn many difficult lessons from this situation. We are going to learn about Public Health threats we never. Aw before we never anticipated. We never actualized. Everyone talked about global pandemics in that possibility, but until it happens, people do not really get it. Our hospital system, how it works in an emergency, how tele education works, how telemedicine works, how to keep society functioning during an emergency, how you communicate of aople the dangers situation without panicking neede because you still essential workers to come out and do their job. You do not want to panic people where they do not say i am not leaving the house, but you need to communicate the facts so people act responsibly. How do you do that in a short period of time . What do you do about Public Transportation . Learn the whole lesson with the downstate Transportation System. There will be a lot to learn from this, which we will learn, and we will be the better for. I believe that. That is part of life. In the meantime, we have to go day to day, and we try to make the best of a bad situation. You try to find that Silver Lining through the dark clouds. All of us try to do it in our own way. Everyone is struggling with it in their own way. And that is all across the board. In many ways, this is the great equalizer. Doesnt matter who you are, where you are, this impacts your life. Dramatically. It,onally, if you work at maybe you can find a little Silver Lining. I am sitting there last night with my daughter, michaela, the baby, now 22, and she says to me, you know, dad, think about it, i have spent more time with you now then i will probably spend with you in the rest of my adult life. I said, wow, what does that mean . She said, think about it. I have been with you for over a month. I will not be with you for another month for the rest of my adult life, which is kind of jarring because i still think of her as my baby, you know what . That is probably right. She is 22. She is going to go off and do whatever she does, and then you see her at holidays for a few hours, maybe you steal a saturday once in a while. It reminded me of cradle,the cat in the from a great man, great new yorker, too. But these are, with all the bizarreness, i have not been able to see my mother in two i have my daughter probably for a longer period of time then i will probably have for the rest of her adult life. That is probably true, so you try to find this over lining, you try to stay positive. We say socially distant we state socially distant but spiritually connected. New yorkers have been so supportive of each other. You can feel it. There is a spirit of community and mutuality. People are there to help one another. People understand everybody is stressed. You look at the way people have complied with these rules, as annoying as they are, masks, six feet this. That is out of respect for another. I love the metaphor of the mask. The mask does not protect me. I wear the mask to protect you. What awhat a beautiful sign of , of mutuality. I wear a mask to protect you. Spirit, even in this terrible time of difficulty. Yes, you can be socially distanced, but you can be spiritually connected and close in certain ways you have never been before. I believe that is where we are. Because we are new york tough. We are tough, smart, and loving. Questions . What about submitting reopening plans . If the schools are reopen in the fall, possibly sooner, we are hearing in new york city the teachers are looking at Remote Learning possibly in the fall . We are wondering about the timeline and what could happen at the earliest . Gov. Cuomo there will be no heening of any school in t state for the remainder of the academic calendar year. We have to decide on Summer School. That decision will be made by the end of may. There is no decision on the fall, because the fall is a long time away. When do they have to submit plans by . Gov. Cuomo it depends on when they will open. They should start preparing their plans now, because this will be a real exercise. We are talking about manufacturing companies, construction companies, how today social distance. How does a school socially distance . This is a bizarre set up, right . Look at the room, how do you run a school like this . How many more rooms would you need, how many more buses do you need to socially distance . Announcer we will leave the briefing to fulfill our more than 40 year commitment to live coverage of the u. S. House on cspan. Members meeting today in a pro forma session with no votes planned. We will return to governor cuomos briefing when the house is finished. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers rooms, washington, d. C. May 1, 2020. I hereby appoint the honorable jamie raskin to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. Signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. Chaplain conroy let us pray. Compassionate god, thank you for giving us another day. With each passing day, o lord, we hear discouraging news of suffering and death during this pandemic. But hopeful news of possible treatments. In it, all we are understandably impatient to be past this Current Crisis and returned to lives which we will never again experience. Such is the profile of human history. Through our own history, americans have relied upon your faithfulness in their personal lives and at times in our nation experience. Today we stand before you imploring your presence and assistance in our time of need. Give us the patience to trust in the work of medical researchers and professionals as they labor to conquer the coronavirus. Give them the wisdom and insight they need to bring to fruition their efforts to find a treatment and vaccine against this scourge. May everything done this day be for your greater honor and glory. Amen. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to section 7a of House Resolution 8