ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday afternoon that there are 43 additional cases of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, in New York State.
This brings the statewide total up to 216. No cases have been confirmed here in Western New York.
The majority of the patients are around the City of New Rochelle, which is located in Westchester County. The official state count:
- Westchester County: 121
- New York City: 52
- Nassau County: 28
- Rockland: 6
- Saratoga: 2
- Suffolk: 6
- Ulster: 1
Cuomo also announced that New York State will contract with 28 private labs to increase testing capacity for the coronavirus. He instructed the labs to start testing as soon as possible.
In addition, the State University of New York and the City University of New York are both implementing plans to maximize distance learning and reduce in-person classes to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Starting March 19, and for the remainder of the spring semester, all campuses will develop plans to cater to curriculum needs while reducing density in each campus.
The governor also announced that New York State will guarantee two full weeks of paid leave for all state workers who undergo mandatory or precautionary quarantine due to the coronavirus. State employees will not have to use accruals to take off work for quarantine.
This includes all state employees, regardless of civil service classification, bargaining unit, and regardless of part time or accrual status.
"While the risk to New Yorkers remains low, we are taking a number of steps out of an abundance of caution to protect public health including asking SUNY and CUNY to implement strategies to reduce density on campuses for the remainder of the semester," Cuomo said. "At the same time, we're continuing to prioritize ramping up testing capacity because the more people you identify as having the virus, the better you can contain it.
"We're also leading by example and providing paid leave to all state workers who are quarantined as a result of the virus - and we encourage businesses to voluntarily do telecommuting to the extent possible. Again I want to remind people to keep this in perspective: the facts do not justify the fear in this situation and the facts here should actually reduce anxiety."
Governor Cuomo also announced a new cooperative effort with New York business leaders to reduce density in workplaces. This involves implementing different work shifts and telecommuting.
Watch the full press conference with Governor Andrew Cuomo below:
