New York has the lowest rate of coronavirus transmission of any state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday.
“This virus is spreading at the lowest rate in the state of New York of every state of America,” the Democratic governor said at his Friday press briefing.
Cuomo credited New York’s “disciplined” reopening of its economy for the low transmission rate. He noted that other states had recently seen a spike in coronavirus cases.
“You look at what’s happening to these states. They reopen, and then, the number goes up,” Cuomo said. “When you reopen and you increase activity, don’t be surprised when the infection rate goes up, unless you were very smart and disciplined about the way you reopened.”
Twenty-three states are experiencing a rise in coronavirus cases.
Cuomo based his remarks on a website developed by the founders of Instagram called “Rt COVID-19.” Using data from the COVID Tracking Project, it calculates Rt, a measure of how fast the virus is spreading. According to the website, when the Rt number is below 1, the virus will stop spreading. When it is above 1, the virus will spread quickly.
New York’s Rt is 0.77. It is followed by New Jersey (at 0.78) and Montana (at 0.81). On the other end of the scale is Vermont at 1.13. South Carolina, which was one of the earliest states to reopen its economy, is next at 1.08. Georgia, which faced much criticism for opening its economy earlier than most other states, is at 0.94.
