The governor described his discussion with the president, which focused on testing, as “functional” and “productive.”
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Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey said the state had recorded 379 new virus-related deaths, its highest one-day toll, despite signs of progress.
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‘It’s Data Driven,’ Cuomo Says of Reopening Strategy for New York
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York discussed the state’s plans for reopening before his meeting with President Trump about increasing coronavirus testing.
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We’ve always talked about the economy of the state in terms of different regions. Manhattan is not Buffalo. Let’s use that same regional template when we talk about reopening, let’s look at the numbers for that region on the Covid virus, let’s look at the hospitalization rate. Look at the C.D.C. guidelines. Talk to the local officials. The “when” is data driven. It’s not when do you want. If the question is “when do you want?” my answer is, “I want it yesterday.” OK, it’s not what you want. It’s data driven — all right, so look at the data, Kathy Hochul will coordinate that with the local officials. And then I think the better question is, “And when we reopened what did we learn?” I think it’s a terrible mistake not to provide funding for the states. I get small businesses. I get airlines. How about police? How about fire? How about health care workers? How about teachers? We’re not going to fund schools? I don’t get it. I don’t get it. That’s why I’m not in Washington.
Governor Cuomo says talks with President Trump were “productive.”
Mr. Cuomo met with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday, describing their conversation as “functional” and “productive.”
The governor, whose relations with Mr. Trump during the crisis have been alternately antagonistic and conciliatory, said the two men had discussed how the federal government could work with states to increase testing for the coronavirus and whether more stimulus money could be made available.
“The meeting went well and I think it was productive,” Mr. Cuomo said during an telephone interview on MSNBC. “The big issue was testing.”
Mr. Cuomo and others have said that have increased testing is a key to lifting restrictions and restarting the state’s economy.
Mr. Cuomo had said in recent days that a major obstacle to doing more tests is the availability of the reactive chemicals in test kits known as reagents and that federal help was needed in getting the chemicals to New York.
He said on Sunday that test-kit manufacturers had told him that they were unable to supply more reagents to local labs in New York State in part because the federal government was telling them which states should get the reagents.
“The federal government is saying to Acme pharmaceutical, give X to California, give Y to Chicago, give Z to New York,” Mr. Cuomo said. “These manufacturers are regulated by the federal government and the federal government clearly has a role in addressing this crisis.”
Mr. Cuomo and Mr. Trump have tussled in recent weeks over New York’s need for ventilators, stimulus aid, whether governors have the authority to reopen state economies and even whether Mr. Cuomo had shown sufficient gratitude for the federal aid New York has gotten.
But Mr. Cuomo has frequently thanked the president for federal assistance, and Mr. Trump has basked in the praise from the governor of his home state.
One form the federal help took was the U.S.N.S. Comfort, a Navy hospital ship that arrived in Manhattan to great fanfare but has not been heavily used.
Noting that New York City appeared to have passed the outbreak’s apex, Mr. Cuomo said on MSNBC that he and Mr. Trump had discussed whether the ship might do more good elsewhere at this point.
“If they need to deploy that somewhere else, they should take it,” he said.
Virus deaths in New York increased slightly.
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The daily number of coronavirus deaths in New York increased very slightly, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Tuesday, with 481 people dying of the virus a day after 478 deaths were reported. There have now been 14,828 virus-related deaths in the state.
Other measures of the virus’s spread in the state were also flat or falling, Mr. Cuomo said.
The number of hospitalized patients fell for the eighth day in a row, and the number who were newly admitted was the lowest in more than three weeks.
The number of intubated virus patients — the most seriously ill people — fell by 127, the steepest one-day drop to date, and is now below 4,000.
Mr. Cuomo said at his morning briefing, which he delivered in Buffalo on his way to Washington to meet with President Trump, that New York would allow elective treatments and surgeries to resume in some areas of the state.
“In those parts of the state and in those hospitals where the hospitals are laying off people because they’re so quiet, and they have the capacity, and capacity for the virus is not an issue, we are going to allow elective outpatient treatment,” he said.
Hospitals in and around New York City and in some of the counties along the Hudson River up to Albany will still be closed to elective surgery, as will hospitals in the Buffalo area, Mr. Cuomo said.
New Jersey has its highest one-day death toll amid signs of progress.
Governor Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey said on Tuesday that the state had recorded 379 new virus-related deaths since the day before, a sharp one-day increase that pushed the overall toll to 4,753.
“These are not numbers,” Mr. Murphy said. “These are human beings.”
There were 3,643 new confirmed virus cases reported on Tuesday, slightly fewer than were reported on Monday. The total number of cases in New Jersey was 92,387.
Those who died in recent days included Darlene Mae Andes, a 54-year-old employee of Mercer County’s public health division; Darell Johnson, a 43-year-old father of four who worked in the guidance department at Morristown High School; and Carole Wolf, 73-year-old nurse’s aide whose four sons are Newark firefighters.
Mr. Murphy cited the three deaths as he called on residents to continue practicing isolation measures that have halted many activities.
“Leadership becomes much more relevant in a crisis,” said Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “And Murphy is getting solid reviews for his response.”
The poll, which was conducted from April 16 to April 19, found that 64 percent of respondents believed the measures taken by the state to slow the spread of the virus have been appropriate. Only 11 percent of respondents said they had gone too far.
Even as they reported the single-day high in deaths, state officials expressed optimism on Tuesday about a decrease in the number of patients on ventilators.
Judith Persichilli, the state health commissioner, said there were 1,930 people in critical condition intensive care, with 78 percent of them on ventilators.
“We’ve been as high as 97 percent just a week ago,” she said.
“Indirect” virus deaths could increase N.Y.C.’s toll by thousands.
The coronavirus is the official cause of death for 9,562 people in New York City, according to figures released by the city’s health department on Tuesday.
It is considered the “probable” cause of death for another 4,865 people who died without being tested for the virus, according to the newly released figures.
But public health experts say there are many more deaths that may be indirectly attributable to the virus: those of people who died because they could not get adequate health care from a system overwhelmed by virus patients.
The number of these collateral deaths could be as high as 4,000, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
People died in New York City during that time at about four times the normal rate, the analysis found.
The number of these “excess deaths,” — 17,200 — is about 4,000 more than the 13,240 confirmed or probable virus-related deaths the city reported as of April 18.
The Times analysis, based on a review of mortality data in 11 countries, found that at least 25,000 more people worldwide have died in the past month of the pandemic than the official death counts show.
New York may cancel its Democratic presidential primary.
New York election officials are planning a vote on Wednesday about whether to cancel the state’s Democratic presidential primary. The move would probably anger supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders, but it could save money and reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
The chairman of the state Democratic Party, Jay Jacobs, said he was pushing to cancel the presidential voting, while still holding primaries for congressional, state legislative and local offices. An estimated 20 of New York’s 62 counties would not need to hold elections if the presidential primary were canceled.
“The more we can do to reduce the risk factor of running the primary, the smarter I think that it is,” Mr. Jacobs said.
A move by the state Board of Elections to scrap the presidential primary would be the latest development in a shifting national electoral landscape in which 16 states have postponed their primaries and many have taken measures to encourage voting by mail.
Despite his decision to concede to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Mr. Sanders had expressed a desire to remain on ballots and collect delegates to increase his influence over the party platform.
New York law provides that candidates should be removed from ballots if they terminate their campaigns.
“Obviously the intent of the Legislature was not to have a primary election where there is no real contest,” said Douglas A. Kellner, a Democrat and co-chairman of the elections board who supports canceling the contest.
The decision rests with Mr. Kellner and the other Democrat on the board, Andrew J. Spano, a former Westchester County executive, who said he had not decided how he would vote.
Officers find marijuana smoke, not social distancing, at closed building.
When police officers arrived at a closed commercial building in Manhattan around 4: 20 p.m. Monday, there was a sign that the strict social-distancing rules enacted to slow the coronavirus’s spread were not being followed: Marijuana smoke was coming from the building.
Officers broke up an illegal gathering of about 40 people smoking marijuana at 20 West 23rd Street, issuing 38 summonses for trespassing and five for marijuana possession, Lt. Thomas Antonetti said.
The raid was carried out by officers who are among 700 drawn from other duties several weeks ago to enforce social-distancing rules that call for New Yorkers to keep six feet apart from one another. Most people have abided by the guidelines, the police have said.
The significance of the date and time of the episode did not escape the officers, the police said. The number 420 has long been associated with marijuana, and for many people April 20 is a day devoted to smoking and celebrating cannabis.
Reporting was contributed by Jonah Engel Bromwich, Maria Cramer, Nicole Hong, Allison McCann, Jesse McKinley, Andy Newman, Sarah Maslin Nir, Edgar Sandoval, Stephanie Saul and Jin Wu.
