NY Coronavirus Stay-In-Place Order Extended To May 15, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo Thursday extended New York's stay-in-place order for yet another month.

New Yorkers must continue to social distance until at least May 15 with only essential workers allowed to move freely throughout the city, Cuomo said.

"Is this inconvenient? Yes," said the governor. "It's our behavior, it's our level of discipline, it's what we're willing to do to safeguard the health of our community."

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New York's "PAUSE," which went into effect on March 22, played a significant role in lowering the rate to beneath the state's more moderate projections and closer to the rate in Wuhan, which underwent a complete lockdown, Cuomo said.

Hospitalization, need for ventilators and ICU admission rates are all down which might suggest New York has reached the apex, Cuomo said.

But roughly 606 New Yorkers lost their lives to COVID-19 Wednesday and roughly 2,000 New Yorkers continue to be hospitalized with the disease every day, Cuomo said.

An estimated 10,899 New York City dwellers had lost their lives to COVID-19, 29, 741 were hospitalized and 111,424 tested positive as of Wednesday afternoon, Health Department data show.

Cuomo also clarified that his regulations mandating all New Yorkers wear face coverings in public included all public transit and would begin at 8 p.m. Friday night.

"If the facts are presented, New Yorkers will do the right thing," said Cuomo. "New Yorkers have a very strong 'right thing' quotient."

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