Cuomo says Northeast will likely see rise in COVID-19 cases due to surge in other parts of country

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Friday warned that the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in the South and on the West Coast could lead to the virus once again finding a foothold in the Northeast.

“You’re going to see our numbers and the Northeast numbers probably start to increase because the virus that you see now in the South and the West — California has real trouble — it’s going to come back here,” Cuomo said in a radio interview. “It is going to come back here. It’s like being on a merry-go-round. It’s totally predictable. And we’re going to go through an increase. I can feel it coming. And it is so unnecessary and so cruel.”

New York was the first epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., with the state having to take drastic measures to deal with the influx of cases and subsequent hospitalizations. The state, along with neighbors New Jersey and Connecticut, has managed to successfully flatten the curve, reporting just 790 new cases on Friday, a positivity rate of under 1 percent. By comparison, on April 4 — the peak of the curve — New York reported 12,274 new cases. 

Florida and Texas, two of the earliest states to begin reopening their economies, are now approaching where New York was initially. Texas set a record on Thursday with more than 11,000 new COVID-19 cases and added another 9,923 on Friday.

Meanwhile, Florida has become the new epicenter for the pandemic in the country. The state reported 11,433 new cases of the virus on Friday, almost breaking the single-day mark it set on July 4.  

Governors of both states — Greg Abbott (R) of Texas and Ron DeSantis (R) of Florida — have reshuttered bars in an attempt to slow down the virus. Abbott has also mandated that all Texans wear masks in public. DeSantis has yet to make masks a requirement for the state’s residents and hasn’t indicated that further restrictions are looming. 

New York, Connecticut and New Jersey have all placed a 14-day quarantine on people who travel from states with high rates of infection, including Texas, Florida and California.