Gov. Andrew Cuomo was tested for the coronavirus live during his Sunday press briefing to promote more widespread screening, including for the first New Yorkers cleared to return to work.
“It is so fast and easy that even a governor can take this test,” Cuomo told reporters in Albany, before rising from his seat to greet a PPE-clad doctor.
The governor hammed it up as the doctor produced a swab and instructed him to close his eyes.
“Question the doctor, that’s OK,” Cuomo said. “Why do I need to close my eyes?”
The doctor explained that the test can cause some people to tear up, as she inserted the swab into the governor’s nostril for a few seconds.
“That’s it? Nothing else?” asked Cuomo. “That is the whole test. I’m not in pain, not in discomfort.”
Cuomo — who said that he has been tested before — underwent the exam to coax other New Yorkers into following suit.
“Now we have more testing capacity and more sites than we’re actually using,” said Cuomo. “We have drive-in sites that can do 15,000 [tests] per day, we’re doing about 5,000 per day.”
And that list grew even larger Sunday, as Cuomo announced a state partnership with CVS pharmacies to begin testing in some 60 locations statewide, each with a capacity for at least 50 tests per day.
The governor additionally expanded the state’s guidelines on who should get tested to include New Yorkers who have been or would be cleared to return to work under the first phase of the state’s reopening plan.
Industries covered in that phase include construction, landscaping, manufacturing and retail locations which offer curbside pick-up.
So far, five of the state’s 10 economic regions have been cleared to reopen by meeting seven criteria on hospital admissions, available beds, testing and tracing.
Cuomo closed the presser by saying that he would await the results of his latest test for the contagion.
“If I’m not here tomorrow, it means I tested positive,” he said. “Otherwise, we’ll see you here tomorrow.”