Earlier in the day on Saturday, April 11, Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City public schools would closed through June. Cuomo countered by saying that was de Blasio's "opinion" and in this situation, the decision is his.
During a midday news briefing in Albany, Cuomo said he would like the timeframe for any extended closure to ideally be the same throughout the state, or at least in the metropolitan area, including the New York City suburbs, and ideally, made in coordination with New Jersey and Connecticut.
Cuomo further stated that the reopening of the economy would have to coincide with a decision on schools, citing the need for parents to have to get childcare if they return to work while their children are still out of school.
There were newly confirmed novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in 54 New York counties as the statewide total rose to 170,512 in the most recently released results. View the complete list of counties here.
While trends regarding hospitalization rates in New York State continue to trend positive, the state saw a fifth straight day with more than 700 deaths due to COVID-19 on Friday, April 10. (See first image above.)
As of midday Saturday, there have been 8,627 COVID-19 deaths in New York, up from 7,844 a day earlier.
As grim as the news is, it potentially could have been worse had New York State not adopted a stay-at-home order.
Cuomo noted that some models projected as many as 136,000 hospitalizations in New York City only due to the outbreak. The current number is around 20,000. (See second image above.)
Other data showing the positive trends in hospitalization rates can be seen in images 3 through 8 above.
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