NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday reported 335 new COVID-19 deaths in New York State — and said he would make a decision about whether or not to reopen schools by the end of the week.
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A total of 17,638 people in New York State have now died of coronavirus-related complications, and 295,106 people have tested positive for the virus, Cuomo said Tuesday.
The number of hospitalizations dipped below 1,000 for the first time since the end of March, and daily intubations and infections were down, but the governor noted the number of deaths was still "tremendous."
"Three hundred and thirty-five people passed away yesterday from this virus in this state — that's 335 families," he said. "You see this number is basically reducing. But not at a tremendous rate. And the only thing tremendous is the number of New Yorkers who still pass away."
While reopening is the goal, the state must do so "without infecting more people or overwhelming the hospital system," Cuomo said. If a hospital system exceeds 70 percent capacity or the rate of transmission of the virus hits 1.1, "those are danger signs, we know that," he added.
"Everyone is talking about reopening — I get it. You can't sustain being closed, the economy can't sustain it, individual families can't sustain it. We can't sustain it on a personal level," he said. "[But] it shouldn't be a philosophical discussion, shoudn't be because people are protesting.... It is a factual discussion on reopening."
Cuomo on Tuesday also said his team would have a decision about whether or not schools would reopen "by the end of the week." Asked whether the New York State Fair and other annual summer events would still take place this year, meanwhile, the governor said it wasn't likely.
"It breaks my heart, but they can't. Unless it's done statewide, and unless it's done, not just statewide, but with our neighboring states," he said. "Look, if you opened the State Fair this year, you'd have the highest attendance we ever had. That I can guarantee you. But it wouldn't be good. Everything is about reducing density."
"Parks, beaches, waterside attractions, that would have to be statewide, or whatever region did it, without the others, you would have a massive infusion of people from everywhere. And that's density, and density is the problem," he added.
On Monday, Cuomo said that he would extend the state's "pause" beyond May 15 in many parts of the state. He also laid out plans for reopening the state in phases, with two weeks—about the maximum incubation period of the virus — between the implementation of each phase to monitor the effects.
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