Governor Andrew Cuomo (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)
Dec. 18, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Governor Andrew Cuomo believes New York will be able to avoid a second COVID-related shutdown, he announced today.
“I believe we can avoid a shutdown and I believe we will avoid a shutdown — I’ll go that far,” Cuomo said during a press briefing Friday.
He said that a second shutdown of the economy — like the PAUSE order he imposed that shuttered all nonessential businesses in the spring — is “totally avoidable.”
Cuomo said two key issues must be addressed to avoid a shutdown— hospitals in the state must be able to manage an increase in COVID-19 patients and New Yorkers need to slow the spread of the virus.
On the first point, no hospital in the state has indicated that it will reach above 85 percent of its capacity within three weeks, by Jan. 8, he said.
The governor previously announced that the state would shutdown a region if its seven-day average hospitalization growth rate shows that the region will hit 90 percent — indicating critical hospital capacity — within three weeks.
Downstate has roughly 31,000 hospital beds available after local hospitals shifted to crisis management and increased their capacity by 25 percent.
“I believe hospitals are going to be able to manage this,” Cuomo said. “We learned a lot in the spring.”
Cuomo said individual New Yorkers have also learned a lot from the springtime, when the pandemic reached its peak.
“I also believe New Yorkers can slow the spread,” he said. “I believe New Yorkers can flatten the curve because I saw them do it.”
He added that people have learned to be cautious when celebrating holidays after Thanksgiving led to an increase in coronavirus cases across the state.
“New Yorkers are smart,” Cuomo said. “I think they’re going to learn from Thanksgiving and I think you’ll see a smarter response through the holidays.”
Cuomo said New Yorkers should adopt a new state mantra of “slow the spread, stop the shutdown.”
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29 Comments
Keep them open. The public loves going out of business sales.
He is planning on raising state taxes and wants to keep new york city open. It will be harder to justify a tax increase in 2021 if he shuts the city down again.
If there is a need or a demand other companies and new companies will fill that demand.
Governor doesn’t want people to panic and have people in NYC flee during the holidays for the suburbs. My roommate started packing after De Blasio announced the possible shutdown after Christmas. Her family has a beautiful home in Port Jefferson, NY. She is lucky.
He’s saying this because outside the liberal echo chamber that is NYC, NYS isn’t having this lockdown nonsense.
Cuomo killed small businesses and the elderly
Many of the people who fled will not return
But his mom is a great chef !
Sick of this miscreant
Hashtagger- You need to pick up a history book or two. People have always came and went and come and go in NYC. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fleeing-yorkers-resulted-estimated-34-133923923.html
Congrats. You finally made a comment without shoe-horning in a Fox News reference. The therapy must be working.
If TDS is what you brand someone who doesn’t take financial or economic advice from a failed businessman and con artist who brought four casinos, an airline, four magazines, the plaza hotel and a university to bankruptcy court. If TDS is how you describe a person who doesn’t believe a man with a history of being a liar and a cheat. Then count me and 80 million Americans as proud supporters of TDS.
Does that have anything to do with this particular story? No? Oh, ok…
He also banned plastic bags. Boo!
They spent weeks telling us to stay home and forced “nonessential” business to close. Now that they see no end in sight and running out of tax dollars they will be begging people to go back to work and shop.
Most of us dont got money to shop anyways.
I am so afraid that this far from over. “England’s top medical officer on Saturday announced that the U.K. has identified a new variant of the coronavirus that “can spread more quickly” than prior strains of the virus.” Please be safe and save whatever money you can. My bank account is almost empty and i worry about paying bills and food.
Could he please….just stop talking. Just stop.
I hope he’s right. London just went on wholesale lockdown due to a new, faster-spreading variant of the virus.
That sound Cuomo hears is high-income earners and businesses fleeing the state. So yeah, he’s sure there won’t be another shutdown. Unlike DeBlasio, Cuomo still has a future to protect.
Historically the wealthy have always left the city during pandemics. It happened during the yellow fever outbreaks, cholera outbreaks, malaria outbreaks, diphtheria and influenza. What makes this pandemic any different?
During prior pandemics there wasn’t an open attempt by the gov’t to destroy local small businesses, entertainment, and nightlife. No reason a high-income earner would stay here when he can go to South Beach or Dallas.
David – When was the last time a pandemic overwhelmed entire hospital systems of entire cities, states, regions and countries? You obviously have never read up on the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. St. Louis shutdown almost all public gatherings. In San Francisco a health officer shot three people who refused to wear mandatory face mask. Arizona police fined people $10 fines for not having face coverings. NYC had lowest death rate because of quarantine and staggered businesses hours. Nobody is trying to destroy small businesses there are still opportunities to earn revenue. Restaurant Specific Rules in Miami Dade 1-6 feet of distance between patrons at tables. 2- No more then 10 at a table. 3-Face coverings required when not actively eating. Dallas restaurants operate up to 25% capacity with a host of other restrictions. High income earners have a long history of fleeing during pandemics. What were the reasons in previous pandemics? If they’re fleeing to Dallas and South Beach it certainly can’t be because of restrictions because restrictions are there too.
Those people in that time period that you are referring to used copper telephone lines for businesses in those times. Now you can be anywhere with a laptop and preform the same transactions they did on Broad street as they can now do in the Boonies. What’s to bring them back? The destruction of the school system by DeBlasio and Carranza? The flood of violent homeless in every neighborhood? The restaurants that are never reopening? To visit our grandparents that Cuomo killed? There’s an article about how a techie left Silicon Valley and for the same amount of rent he was paying , was able to BUY a 3 bedroom house with a yard in Austin Texas( awesome city btw) . Location isn’t everything anymore.
1633-1634: Smallpox from European settlers
1793: Yellow fever from the Caribbean
1832-1866: Cholera in three waves
1858: Scarlet fever also came in waves
1906-1907: Typhoid
1918: H1N1 flu
1921-1925: Diphtheria epidemic
1916-1955: The peak of polio
1957: H2N2 flu
1981-1991: Second measles outbreak
1993: Contaminated water in Milwaukee
2009: H1N1 flu
2010, 2014: Whooping cough
1980s to present: HIV and AIDS
2020: COVID-19
Diughboy- Where are you living? Restaurants are not closed. I know Fox News has changed the meaning of “ restrictions” to mean eliminate or to close but those are not the meaning of the word restrictions.Higher income earners don’t send and have never sent their children to public schools in NYC. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fleeing-yorkers-resulted-estimated-34-133923923.html
1933-1959 Crabs
Fan of Dough Boy Park–this isn’t Facebook, are you confused?
Wow, three responses from same person. I don’t recall the great economic reaction to the whooping cough in 2010 ( you’re reaching so far there that Trump wants to hire you) whooping cough really affected the economy in 2010 ( eyeroll) ( sarcasm) Restaurants aren’t closed??? Really???? The universe you live in, are the Unicorns friendly??? Restaurants arent closing!?!}Wow, just wow, your three responses say 1 of 3 things 1- you don’t live here, or 2- you don’t live here and live in parents basement in never never land, and 3- you’re married to Bill DeBlasio, lol, you’re so delusional . What campus you teach on?
@Fan of Doughboy- I work alone and certainly do not post comments with emojis.
Whooping cough can kill. Why would somebody mock it?
Most of the deaths each year are in babies younger than 3 months of age. Since 2010, up to 20 babies die from it each year in the United States. Even though it seems like these are a lot of cases, the United States no longer has the 200,000 cases per year like it did before whooping cough vaccines were available.
Almost every doctors office i go to has been texting me about vaccine updates. I guess they all want to charge for an office visit fee even though the vaccine is suppose to be free.