COVID-19: Cuomo aims lesson on the Constitution at Trump; Westchester deaths 654

Fast Facts:
  • The governor threw shade at President Trump over statements he made yesterday concerning governors and who has power to reopen state economies
  • The governor cited founding father Alexander Hamilton”™s statement concerning federal encroachment upon states: “That their liberties, indeed, can be subverted by the federal head, is repugnant to every rule of political calculation.”
  • There were 10,834 deaths reported, up from the previous day”™s 10,056
  • New York City has the majority share, 64%, of total hospitalized by region. Long Island had 22% and Westchester/Rockland had 8%. The remaining 6% encompassed the rest of the state.

While saying that the COVID-19 crisis is no time for politics and “The president is not going to get a fight from me,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo this morning staked out some positions diametrically opposed to those of President Trump.

Trump’s positions include claiming absolute power to reopen the country, denying federal responsibility for providing medical supplies to states and charging that governors who want to cooperate on regional recovery plans are mutineers.

The president said last night that he has total authority for determining how and when the states reopen. That is not an accurate statement,” Cuomo said. He told an Albany news conference this morning that the U.S. does not have a king and, “The federal-state relationship is central to our democracy. This has been a topic discussed since our founding fathers first decided to embark on this entire venture.”

Cuomo referenced Alexander Hamilton who said that the idea that the head of the federal government, the president, could subvert the liberties enjoyed by the states “is repugnant to every rule of political calculation.”

Cuomo said, “We have to remember today that the balance between the state and the federal, that magnificent balance that is articulated in the Constitution, is the essence of our democracy. We don’t have a king in this country. We didn’t want a king.”

Trump took to Twitter today to attack Cuomo and the Democrat and Republican governors of seven Northeast states, along with the governors of three West Coast states, who have joined in coalitions to develop regional plans for gradually ending the economic shutdown while trying to guard against a second wave of infections. Trump has said he wants a “big big” reopening of the economy.

Referring to a movie from 1935 that was remade in 1962, Trump wrote on Twitter, “Tell the Democrat Governors that ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ was one of my all time favorite movies. A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!”

In a separate Tweet attacking Cuomo, Trump said, “Cuomo”™s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state”™s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc. I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won”™t happen!”

Before the news conference, Cuomo had appeared on television morning shows. On CNN, he threatened to sue Trump if the president ordered states to reopen prematurely and in a way that would endanger public health. Cuomo said it would result in a genuine Constitutional crisis.

Cuomo said that the social distancing and shutdowns have changed the curve of the outbreak.

“We should take some comfort in the fact that we have demonstrated we can actually control the spread of the virus,” Cuomo said. “Whatever we do today will determine the infection rate tomorrow. It is total cause and effect. You stop what you are doing or you behave differently and you will get a different result. And that’s important to remember as we talk about reopening.”

Cuomo said that the country still has a long way to go when it comes to testing and he called on the federal government to take responsibility for testing supplies which will be necessary during the transition to an open economy to help ensure that sick people are not going back to work, riding public transportation and otherwise threatening public health. He said a handful of companies are capable of manufacturing the testing kits that will be needed.

“Everybody is going to those companies to buy the tests. I’ve spoken to the heads of several companies myself and they have a limited production and now they have to allocate it to 50 states,” Cuomo said. “And, we’re again in a bidding war competition with other states. I would say to the federal government, ‘You take that piece. Don’t replicate the 50 state pandemonium.’ You want to talk about an increased federal role. Let FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) do the testing. FEMA should have in my opinion done all the purchasing of the medical equipment and they should have allocated it.”

Cuomo reported that there have been 10,834 deaths in New York from COVID-19, an increase of 778 from what was reported yesterday. Of the 778 newly reported deaths, 133 were in nursing homes and the balance in hospitals.

New hospitalizations yesterday were 1,649, a bit lower than the 1,958 reported on Sunday.  Cuomo reported 69 new admissions to intensive care units. Intubations were down for the second day in a row, with a net of 14 people being removed from breathing machines.

Statistics obtained this afternoon from the state Department of Health reveal that Westchester now has 20,191 identified cases of COVID-19. Rockland has 8,335 cases, while 558 have been positively identified in Putnam. There are 5,578 cases attributed to Orange County and 1,934 to Dutchess.

There have been 654 deaths in Westchester from the virus, with 596 of the fatalities being Westchester residents. There have been 209 Rockland residents killed by the virus, 31 Putnam residents, 129 deaths in Orange County and 41 deaths in Dutchess.