Cuomo: Global Pandemic ‘Will Happen Again, Bank on It’

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says we might only be at "halftime" in the battle with COVID-19.

On Friday during his daily COVID-19 briefing, Cuomo said action started to stop the spread of coronavirus two months after the China outbreak.

"We closed the front door with the China travel ban, which was right, but left the back door wide open because the virus had left China when we did the travel ban," Cuomo said.

Cuomo believes the lesson is "an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere." When it's somewhere else we now must assume it will be in New York soon, he added.

"That has to be the operating mentality. Cause you don't know that the virus didn't get on a plane. If they say it's in China, just assume it's in the United States," he said.

Cuomo said this is an important message because of an expected second wave of COVID-19 or another virus.

"It will happen again, bank on it," he said. "Let's not say this is the only global pandemic we will have to deal with. "We now know that a global pandemic is not just an academic exercise, not just a tabletop exercise. And it's devastating"

Cuomo announced the curve of hospitalizations and intubations continues to decline while a number of new hospitalizations are flat across the state.

He announced 422 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 16,162 from COVID-19.

Cuomo believes if the state reopens too soon, the virus will quickly spread gain.

"For all, we know it's only halftime. How fast the infection goes down depends on what we do now. If we rush back to business as usual the virus will spike fast and furious. We have to be smart, he said. "I know everyone is impatient; that's what happens if we just reopen."