New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says New York needs to double its coronavirus testing capacity before it can reopen the state. And Cuomo says the state's 300 medical testing labs tell his administration they can't do it because they can't get the chemicals they need to process the tests.
Cuomo says he's gone to the 30 companies that make testing equipment and supplies and been told they can't get the chemicals in greater amounts either, most of which come from overseas. He says New York has tested 500,000 people since the pandemic started, but it needs to test a million a month to get a handle on who is infected and who has recovered before restarting the econony.
The Governor says that needs to be addressed by the federal government, which is the only one that can coordinate and expand the reagent supply chain.
Governor Cuomo says New York is still seeing about 2,000 new infections per day, and 540 people died statewide since Friday. That's fewer than in recent days, but Cuomo says it's still too many.