New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has no regrets about the timing of his social distancing orders despite the rampant coronavirus outbreak in his state.
Cuomo was asked during a press conference on Wednesday if he thought New York waited too long to shut down nonessential businesses to stop the spread of the coronavirus, given that cities such as San Francisco shut down before New York City and have witnessed significantly smaller outbreaks. In response, the governor stood by his decisions and said New York made the decision “early.”
“I think New York was early, and I think the actions we took were more dramatic than most. And frankly, we were criticized as being premature,” he said.
Cuomo was also asked whether he and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio should have closed schools sooner. De Blasio was adamant that schools remain open, forcing Cuomo to step in and order them to shutter on March 15. The governor downplayed the spat between him and the mayor and said the schools closed at the right time.
“There wasn’t a debate. I made the decision to close down the city schools. There was — I didn’t have a debate — there was a debate about closing city schools, and people thought I closed schools prematurely. That was the ongoing debate. But no, I think, if anything, in retrospect, it shows what we did is right,” he said.
As of Wednesday, New York had 6,268 coronavirus-related deaths.
