Governor extends closures for schools, many businesses until April 29
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today he has extended the closure for schools and many businesses in the state until at least April 29.
The governor on March 16 first announced schools would be closed for two weeks until April 1, due to health concerns about the coronavirus.
“I’m not going to choose between public health and economic activity,” Cuomo said during a news conference today.
The virus continues to have a deadly toll in the state. Cuomo announced 599 people died from the virus on Saturday, bringing the state’s total deaths from Covid-19 to 4,758.
The state also has 8,658 new confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total to 130,689 in the state.
The governor said social distancing seems to be slowing the rate of increase in new cases and deaths, but the Cuomo said it is still a high number in the state.
He said New Yorkers throughout the state need to take social distancing more seriously to further reduce the number of new cases. He urged local governments to enforce social distancing in public, keeping people at least six feet apart. He also announced fines for noncompliance would be increased from $500 to $1,000.
“None of us has the right to be reckless with our own behavior,” Cuomo said. “Now is not the time to be playing frisbee in the park with your friends. Now is not the time to attend a funeral with 200 other people.”
