March 31, 2020 — Albany, NY — Governor Andrew Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a news conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol.
As the number of new daily positive cases of COVID-19 continues to increase, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling on the residents of New York state to practice social responsibility and stay home.
As of Tuesday, March 31, there have been 1,550 deaths caused by the coronavirus in New York. The number of positive cases has skyrocketed to more than 75,000, and 10,929 of those people are currently hospitalized. More than 2,700 of those patients are in the intensive care unit while almost 5,000 patients have been discharged. New York state is still leading as the most impacted state in the United States, with New Jersey far behind at 16,636 cases.
Now, Governor Cuomo is looking at two missions. One of which uniting and transforming the hospital system, while the other is continuing to encourage people to stay home.
We have two missions:
One is on the front lines in our hospitals.
The second is the battle to get all New Yorkers to stay home.
Stay home. Stop the Spread. Do it.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 31, 2020
At the root of encouraging residents to help flatten the curve is individual discipline to stay at home.
“The individual responsibility is about discipline. It’s about selflessness and being informed. The basic point is stay at home,” Cuomo said. “Stay at home. I know it’s hard to stay at home and I know everyone thinks, you know, I can go out, I can be smart, and I won’t get infected because it’s me. I’m a superhero. It’s not going to be me. That is not true.”
On Tuesday, Cuomo revealed that his Brother, CNN journalist Chris Cuomo, has contracted COVID-19 and is self-quarantined at home. He said he was worried for his own mother who had been in close contact with Chris just two weeks ago.
“It’s not just about you. It’s not just about your health and your life that you’re playing with here, my friend. You can infect other people. So I’ve been trying to communicate this many different ways for many days,” Cuomo said.
“We still see people coming out who don’t need to be out. Even for essential workers, people have to be careful. And again, I’ve been trying to communicate that. Everyone, everyone is subject to this virus. It is the great equalizer. I don’t care how smart, how rich, how powerful you think you are. I don’t care how young, how old. This virus is the great equalizer.”
Cuomo also described a “social stamina” that individuals can develop and strengthen, noting that this is a long-term crisis and people need to mentally prepare for the long isolation that lies ahead.
“We know what to do. We just have to do it. It is individual discipline to stay at home,” the governor said. “That’s what it is, it’s discipline. No social distancing. It’s discipline.
“[People say] ‘well, I’m bored.’ I know. I’m bored. It’s discipline. It’s about a social stamina. This is not one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, six weeks, okay? This is not going to be an Easter surprise. Understand that and have the stamina to deal with it.”
The Department of Health’s website includes several different resources for how people can help by either staying home, donating goods and services, signing up to help if you are a retired nurse or doctor, and so on.
New Yorkers can also call the COVID-19 emotional support hotline at 1-844-863-9314 for mental health counseling.
