Will New York shut down again? Nobody can answer that today, Cuomo says - syracuse.com

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Albany, N.Y. — After warning earlier this week that New York is headed for another shutdown if the current Covid trajectory doesn’t change, Gov. Andrew Cuomo sounded more optimistic today.

While no one can answer for certain whether the state will shut down again, Cuomo said he believes New Yorkers will act to ensure that doesn’t happen.

“It is totally in our control,” he said during a press conference in Albany. “A shutdown is totally avoidable.

“New Yorkers get it. They see the numbers. New Yorkers are smart. I think they’re going to learn from Thanksgiving. I think you’ll see a smarter response through the holidays.”

New York confirmed 12,697 new cases of the coronavirus Thursday, a record high. But the state also conducted its highest number of tests ever yesterday: 249,385.

Shutdowns like the one New York endured in the spring are harmful to businesses, workers, children and everyone’s mental health, Cuomo said. No one wants another one.

The danger remains overwhelming the hospital system with coronavirus patients. Cuomo has said he’ll mandate the closure of all nonessential businesses in any area where the seven-day average of the growth rate in hospitalizations shows the region would reach 90% of its hospital capacity within three weeks.

But on Thursday, hospitalizations, the number of people in intensive care units and the number of people intubated all fell. For months, all three of those figures have been rising steadily, sometimes sharply.

“Those are good signs,” Cuomo said. “What does it mean? We’ll find out if it continues tomorrow.”

Cuomo also said he believes the state’s hospitals can handle what’s coming. The state has ordered facilities to take steps to prepare, including boosting bed counts and being ready to transfer patients to other sites if necessary.

Hospitals must notify the state Health Department if they believe they’ll reach 85% of their maximum capacity within three weeks. So far, no hospitals have, Cuomo said.

“I believe hospitals are going to be able to manage this,” he said. “We learned a lot in the spring.

“We’ve gone through this before. We did this before. And I believe we can do it again.”

Hospitalizations due to the virus in New York dropped 66 on Thursday to 6,081. A total of 1,068 people were in intensive care units, down 27, and 592 were intubated, down 19.

Another 120 people in the state died due to the virus on Thursday. The statewide death toll is now 28,342.

Central New York hospitals are now 73% full, based on a seven-day average, according to Cuomo’s office. That figure has been improving in recent days. It was as high as 77% at one point.

Cuomo has said if projections show any area is in danger of reaching 90% within three weeks, he’ll order all nonessential businesses to close.

The statewide percentage of people testing positive for the virus yesterday was 5.09%, down from 5.38% the previous day. The seven-day average of the statewide positive rate was 5.25% yesterday, up slightly from 5.24% the day before.

The seven-day average of Central New York’s positive rate was 6.89% on Thursday. That’s down from over 7% earlier this week.

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Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com

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