Cuomo orders NYC subway trains sanitized every night

by Marty Johnson - 04/29/20 2:18 PM ET

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Wednesday ordered that all New York City subway cars be cleaned every night by Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) workers to ensure the safety of essential personnel during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Any essential worker who shows up and gets on a train should know that that train was disinfected the night before,” Cuomo told reporters at his daily coronavirus press briefing.

“Letting them endanger their own life and endanger the lives of others is not helping anyone,” Cuomo said.

The governor said that he wants the MTA to present to him a plan for the nightly cleanings by Thursday.

“It’s realistic. It’s an essential. How realistic is it? What’s the alternative?” Cuomo said when asked if the state would provide funding to the MTA for the cleaning.

He also commented on reports of the deteriorating state of subway cars during the crisis as the city has allowed homeless people to stay on the cars with their belongings.

“No one wants to live their lives on a subway train,” Cuomo said. “We have a higher obligation as a society than to say ‘OK, you can sleep in a subway car.'”

He also announced that starting Wednesday, the state of New York would be offering antibody testing for transit workers to determine if they’ve contracted or been exposed to COVID-19 and developed the antibodies to fight it. A positive antibody test doesn’t guarantee immunity from the virus, but it does signal that someone may have added protection against the virus moving forward.

Also on Wednesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that the city would start offering free coronavirus antibody testing to more than 150,000 health care workers and first responders battling the pandemic on the front lines.

We’re also beginning a new initiative, offering antibody tests to over 150,000 health care personnel and first responders. Antibody tests can tell someone if they’ve been exposed and recovered from COVID-19 — that’s something that will give people more confidence in their work.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020

De Blasio said that the city was “moving 1,000 more of our homeless residents into hotels per week,” adding that “testing will be available across our entire shelter system by mid-May.”

Tags Andrew Cuomo Bill de Blasio Coronavirus New York New York City New York City Subway