NY Gov: “When people see the testing numbers they’re going to be shocked”

Appearing on CNN, NY Governor Andrew Cuomo warned the public to not panic when the results of an expanded coronavirus testing regime are made public in New York.
“When people see the testing numbers they’re going to be shocked, because the numbers are going to be very high,” said Mr.Cuomo. “Just because we’re not testing doesn’t mean the virus isn’t spreading. And then we’ll see those big numbers that will add to the fear that people feel. And then we’ll have to actually communicate the facts of this situation because we already have, I believe, anxiety well in excess of what the facts would merit.”

Mr. Cuomo again lamented the delay, in part due to defective CDC test equipment, in deploying enough coronavirus testing kits to accurately assess the community spread of the virus in New York State. “The testing capacity is still an issue,” said Mr. Cuomo. “You look at the countries that have dealt with this well, you look at what China wound up doing. They did multiples of the tests that we’re doing. They were very aggressive on the testing and then they tracked down every test. We’re not yet where we should be in terms of testing – that’s one of my issues with the federal government and working with them to get the private labs in, get the private labs using what’s called automated testing so you get the volume up. Because China was doing thousands and thousands of tests per day. We’re nowhere near that level yet. ”

When asked whether the draconian control measures employed in other nations, notably China and Italy, would be necessary in New York State, Mr. Cuomo indicated that it was still too early to say. “The trajectory of this disease will depend upon what we do,” said Mr. Cuomo. “If we get that testing capacity up quickly and we actually track down those cases, we can reduce the spread. Just reduce the spread. If we don’t, you’ll see it spread more and then you have to take more dramatic actions, closing down schools, et cetera. We don’t want to get there. Nobody wants to get there, because that will really have a negative impact on the economy, on top of everything else. But you could get there if you don’t stop the spread.”

To view the Governor’s official coronavirus page, go to:
https://health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/