Cuomo: The Worst is Over for COVID-19 in New York, But Horrific

Over 5,000 New Yorkers have died from coronavirus in the past seven days, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo thinks the worst is over despite the curve flattening at "a horrific level."

On Monday, Cuomo announced 671 New Yorkers died on Easter Sunday from COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 10,056.

"New York mourns the 671 people we lost yesterday," Cuomo said. "We lost them on Easter Sunday. And that acute pain is deeply felt by all of us."

Neary 5,300 New Yorkers have died from the virus in the past seven days. Cuomo believes the high number of New Yorkers who have died is due to the population density in the state.

He said hospitalizations continue to level off, ICU admissions and intubations are once again down. He said it appears the curve has flattened out, but at alarming levels.

"It appears we have a plateau. It's basically flat, but flat at a horrific level," Cuomo said.

In his opinion, Cuomo thinks if we continue to be smart about social distancing and continue to take other precautions, the worst is over. He thinks the worst is over because of what New York has done to stop the spread.

"The worst is over if we continue to be smart going forward," Cuomo said. "Yes, I think you can say 'the worst is over.' Because the worst here are people dying. That's the worst. The worst doesn't get any (worse) and this worst is people die. That's the worst. Yes, we can control the spread and we can reduce the number of people who die and our healthcare system can do phenomenal work and rise to the occasion and deal with this beast. It has not overwhelmed the healthcare system. We have control of the spread. There is confidence to be taken in that. That's an accomplishment and it was a heck of an accomplishment. Those healthcare workers, for the rest of my life, I will say 'thank you' to them. Feel good about that. I believe the worst is over if we continue to be smart."

Cuomo does caution there won’t be a morning where a headline reads ‘hallelujah, it’s over.’ He adds it won't be completely over until there are a vaccine and more testing.

He called reopening the economy "a delicate balance."

"None of this has been done before," Cuomo said. "You look around the world, you see warning signs from countries that have reopened. You'll start to open that valve on the economic activity. Do it carefully, do it slowly and do it intelligently."

Once plans are announced to reopen the state will redetermine what's considered an "essential worker."

Cuomo announced he's talking with other governor's from the northeast later today to start figuring out a plan to reopen the economy.

"Any plan to reopen society MUST be driven by data and experts, not opinion and politics," Cuomo tweeted. "We will learn from the warning signs from other countries. We will take every precaution. We will work together as a region."