Cuomo extends coronavirus shutdown to May 15

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state’s COVID-19 lockdown will continue for at least another 29 days after Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday extended the “NY PAUSE” directive to May 15 to bring the deadly outbreak fully under control.

That means non-essential businesses and schools remain closed, non-essential workers must continue to stay home, and social-distance rules like bans on gatherings remain in place.

NY PAUSE was set to expire on April 29, until today’s extension. The directive went fully into effect on March 22 and was initially scheduled to expire at the end of March before the governor extended it to April 15, then again to April 29, and now May 15.

Though the state has succeeded in flattening the curve and bringing down the rate of hospitalizations and infections, “we’re not there yet,” the governor said at his daily briefing, regarding the state’s fight against COVID-19.

He said New York’s infection spread rate is 0.9, which means each person who tests positive for the coronavirus infects on average just less than one other person. He said an infection spread rate of 1.2 increases the rate of hospitalizations. The difference between 0.9 and 1.2 doesn’t leave New York with much wiggle room.

So Cuomo contends New York needs to continue the social-distancing measures for another four weeks and then re-evaluate.

The governor also discussed the way New York will go about reopening businesses. Industries deemed to be more essential with low infection risk will open first. Those that are less essential with high infection risk will be the last priority. The businesses in between will be opened in phases with the pace of opening increasing as the infection rate goes down. The state is coordinating with other Northeast states on this effort.

“Unpausing New York and reopening our economy is going to be an ongoing process over the coming weeks that we’re working through with other states, but we have to do it in a way that doesn’t drive up the infection rate and create a second wave of the virus,” Cuomo said.

New York reported 606 new COVID-19 deaths in the last day. That’s the lowest daily total in 10 days. The state had 8,505 new coronavirus cases in the last day, down from 11,571 a day earlier.

For the second straight day, more people in New York were discharged from the hospital than were admitted with the deadly bug. And for a fourth consecutive day, more people were removed from a ventilator than put on one.