ALBANY, N.Y. — New York State is now conducting on average 30,000 coronavirus tests every day, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo. This announcement comes a week after the governor announced New York State's goal to double the state's testing capacity from 20,000 tests per day to 40,000 tests per day.
The governor said on April 21 that it will take several weeks to double testing, stressing that it has taken over a month to be able to conduct 20,000 tests per day.
Cuomo says New York State has seen a slight increase in the number of new hospitalizations; however, the hospitalization rate and net change in New York State is going down. Unfortunately, the number of deaths continues to increase.
The New York State Department of Health reports 330 people died on Tuesday from COVID-19.
The governor says he will be issuing an executive order that will allow elective surgeries to resume in many parts of the state. At this time, hospitals in Erie County are not allowed to begin elective surgeries, but all other counties in Western New York can.
In order to reopen New York, Cuomo says at least 30 percent of hospital beds and 30 percent of ICU beds must be available after elective surgeries resume. He says decisions will not be based on politics, emotion, or conspiracy theories, but on numbers and data, referring to the 12-step plan that was laid out on Tuesday.
The governor once again stressed the need for state and local funding from Washington, saying it is essential.