NY Coronavirus: Cuomo Demands MTA Clean Subways Nightly

NEW YORK, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday demanded a plan from MTA officials detailing how they'll clean subways every night before essential workers take them to work in the mornings. His call comes as the state continued to see hospitalizations, intubations and intensive care treatments from the new coronavirus trend downward, as well as the number of deaths.

Cuomo said it's not enough to thank essential workers for being on the front lines every day while everyone else stays home. Many rely on public transportation and deserve clean cars, he said. Currently, they put themselves at risk.

The governor said it's a "tremendous undertaking" that has never been done, and also asked the transit authority to address reports that people experiencing homelessness are basically living on empty trains during the pandemic.

"The trains have to be clean," he said. "The homeless need the services that they need, and we have to be able to do it as a society."

While Cuomo didn't delve deeply into specifics, he said people with no homes to go to deserve safe shelter and access to services that can help them improve their lives.

When asked whether such a cleaning plan was "realistic," Cuomo retorted: "It's realistic."

"What's the alternative?" he asked.

Officials will also begin testing transit workers to determine the spread of the virus. An initial 1,000 will be tested this week, he said. Cuomo said 17.1 percent of FDNY and EMTs have tested positive for antibodies so far, as well as 10.5 percent of the NYPD. The downstate average is about 18 percent, he said.

At his daily briefing, Cuomo said total COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York ticked down to about 12,200, while the net change in hospitalizations dropped to minus 487.

The net change in intubations fell to minus 139.

Meanwhile, the number of new, daily COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to show signs of leveling off, with the number lingering at 957, a tick up from 953 a day earlier.

The number of people who died from the disease fell to 330 on Tuesday, down from 335 a day earlier and far lower than peak, which topped 770. Of the deaths, 314 were in hospitals and 16 were in nursing homes.

The state has ramped up its testing capacity, now conducting about 30,000 a day. The goal is ultimately to get to about 40,000 a day.

Cuomo said he will issue an executive order Wednesday allowing certain upstate New York hospitals that don't have a surge of coronavirus patients to continue performing elective surgeries.