There were 783 deaths in New York in the last 24 hours, putting the total number of people who have died at 8,627, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference.
Cuomo continued to say that New York is flattening the curve, though he said the numbers were still stark.
“The [death toll] is somewhat stabilizing, but it is stabilizing at a horrific rate,” he said. “These are just incredible numbers, depicting incredible loss and pain.”
He also spoke about reopening the state, saying the decision was both a public health and economic decision.
The governor said he will put together a team to look at what happened in Wuhan, China, which was at one point the epicenter, when the city reopened.
Cuomo also pushed back on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announcement earlier this morning that the city’s public schools would close for the remainder of the year. Cuomo called it the mayor’s “opinion” rather than a definitive decision. He said any decision would be made not only for New York City, but the state as a whole.
He said in this situation “it is my legal authority.”
The mayor’s office responded to Cuomo’s remarks in a tweet.
“The Governor’s reaction to us keeping schools closed is reminiscent of how he reacted when the Mayor called for a shelter in place,” Freddi Goldstein, de Blasio’s press secretary, tweeted. “We were right then and we’re right now. Schools will remain closed, just like how we eventually – days later – moved to a shelter in place model.”
