CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview With Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY)
Interview
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Eighty-two of those cases are in Westchester County which is just north of New York City. 12 people are infected inside New York City's five boroughs as the virus continues to spread.
Another great Governor with us now from the great state of New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo joining me right now.
So Governor -- I mean, this is very serious and getting more serious, you know, really with each moment. So tell us what you can about the origins of these 16 new cases.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Yes. Thanks. Good afternoon -- Fred.
It is serious but just let's pause for a moment on how serious it is because I'm afraid that the fear is actually outpacing the facts and we're fighting the virus but we're also fighting this anxiety. And people have to take a step back, a deep breath, and actually understand what we're looking at.
We have tremendous data on what happens with the coronavirus. We've studied other countries, et cetera. Johns Hopkins has been tracking every case -- 107,000 cases; 3,000 fatalities, ok?
We don't want anyone to die, but that's the parameters of what we're looking at. We have 108 cases in New York -- we only have 105 cases, I'm sorry. We have 8 people in the hospital out of 105 cases. So the real danger is twofold. One, if it continues to spread we're going to have to take drastic containment measures which means you basically shut down everything, which is what China did. That's bad for the economy, it's bad for business, bad for society.
Second, it's the vulnerable population -- senior citizens, elderly, people with compromised immune systems and underlying illness. That is what where we're trying to stop. And the way to do that is to fight the spread. You fight the spread through containment which is testing.
We're testing aggressively. You find the person who is positive. You isolate that person. The better you are at testing and isolation, the more you'll reduce the spreading and hopefully we don't have to go through --
WHITFIELD: But those are the cases that you know of, right?
CUOMO: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Right. Those are the cases that you know of but then there is the concern of those who, you know, are asymptomatic. And what do you do? How do you address that because that's how the numbers continue to rise. Some are asymptomatic for a moment and then symptoms arise.
CUOMO: Yes, you do the best you can. Look, this is imperfect and we understand that but the best you can is when you find the person who's been infected, you trace it back. Where were they, who did they touch, et cetera. You check the flights coming from countries that have an infection rate that's high.
You do the best you can. It's not a perfect system, that's for sure. In the meantime, you reduce density. I'm talking to the business leaders all across New York. I'm going to meet with them this week.
Let part of the workforce stay home, telecommuting. It's a digital economy, let people stay home. Liberal sick leave. If you're sick -- stay home. So that's what we're looking at.
What we do need is we need to reduce the fear and we need cooperation from the people. And we need the federal government to actually help rather than hinder and to tell the American people the truth and stick with the truth.
You now have, I think, tremendous anxiety because they're hearing mixed messages from the federal government. The President stands up and says anybody who wants a test can have a test. The Vice President stands up and says we don't have enough tests.
You hear that, you get nervous. We can't test everybody who wants to test. That is not true. I had to put special protocols in place in New York just to make it clear we have to prioritize the tests because we don't have the capacity. And I need the federal government to approve the use of private labs and automated testing --
WHITFIELD: And in fact, you toured a lab -- CUOMO: -- which will increase exponentially the number of tests we can do.
WHITFIELD: You toured a lab recently --
CUOMO: Yes,
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WHITFIELD: What did you discover there?
[14:24:58]
CUOMO: I toured a lab this morning -- Fred. It's the most sophisticated lab in the State. It's one of the most sophisticated labs in the United States of America. They have automated testing. They can do 120 tests in a matter of just about an hour.
No human beings. It's all done by machine. The federal government hasn't approved the usage. I mean I don't need anything from the feds but don't get in our way. And the federal government has been slow off the mark to begin with.
You know you need testing. You know you don't have the capacity. Why won't you approve these private labs with the automated testing which are going to use the federally-approved protocol anyway.
I mean it is -- it's really difficult to deal with when you're in my position because you know the more you test, the more you contain. You have more testing capacity, but the federal government is not authorizing its use.
WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo -- thanks so much. And good luck to you and your state.
CUOMO: Thank you, Fred.
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