Coronavirus: New York extends stay-at-home order

'What happens after then, I don’t know. We will see depending on what the data shows,' Governor Andrew Cuomo says

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has extended the state’s coronavirus restrictions through 15 May, as the hospitalisation and ICU admission rate continues its decline.

He said this decision was “in coordination with other states”. New York partnered with six other Northeastern states – New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts – to coordinate how each area would open in the coming weeks and months.

Although New York has appeared to reach its apex of cases and deaths, the governor has continued to implore residents to follow social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders to prevent a resurgence of the virus.

Now essential workers would be the only ones allowed to go into work through 15 May under the New York Pause guidelines. After that, it remains unclear.

“What happens after then, I don’t know. We will see depending on what the data shows,” Mr Cuomo said.

The move to extend social distancing measures should come as no surprise after other states including Vermont, Delaware, and Connecticut have extended their own orders into mid-May.

But it also contrasted what the federal government has been saying about reopening the US.

Federal social distancing guidelines end on 30 April, and reports have indicated President Donald Trump was not eager to extend those guidelines past that date despite what health experts have advised.

Mr Cuomo’s decision to extend social distancing guidelines into May comes one day after announcing an executive order that forces residents to wear masks or other face coverings when out in public.

The executive order, which will go into effect on Friday, states that all residents must wear masks when in a position where they are unable to practice social distancing.

“If you’re going to get on public transit, you’re going to get on a bus, you’re going to get on a subway, you’re going to stand on a subway platform, you’re going to walk in a neighbourhood that is busy, you’re going to be on a sidewalk, you’re going to pass other people on a sidewalk, you’re not going to be able to maintain social distancing, you must wear a mask,” the governor said.

Social distancing guidelines have worked in the last month to curb the spread of the virus in New York.

“We’ve controlled the beast. We brought the rate of spread down,” Mr Cuomo said on Thursday.

Since last week, the state has reported declines in its hospitalisation, intubation, and ICU admission rates. Although those rates have declined, the state is still seeing a high number of deaths from the novel virus. The death toll rose by 606 people on Wednesday, slightly down from its per day peak.

Mr Cuomo outlined a plan on Thursday that would allow New York state to reopen slowly to avoid a resurgence in the virus. This reopening would require widespread testing and contact tracing. It would also involve slowly phasing in more workers returning to the workforce.

“You stopped everything. How do you then restart that machine in a coordinated way that doesn’t drive up the infection rate? That’s the balance that we’re trying to strike,” he added.