NEW YORK _ Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order Wednesday requiring New Yorkers to wear face masks in most public areas and warned that violations could result in fines, as the coronavirus killed another 752 people in the Empire State overnight.
The governor said local authorities across the state won't start enforcing the face mask order for three days.
After that, New Yorkers could be penalized if they're spotted walking around without masks in any area where "you cannot maintain social distancing," including crammed subways and buses, grocery stores, pharmacies, busy sidewalks and parks, according to Cuomo.
"There's a possibility for a civil violation. You could get a penalty," Cuomo said during his daily COVID-19 briefing from Albany.
Bandanas, scarves and other makeshift face coverings are acceptable under the new executive order.
The governor said penalties will ultimately only be doled out if there's widespread and "flagrant noncompliance."
"But local government should start to enforce it and they should come up and say ... 'Where's your mask, buddy?' in a nice, New York kind of way," Cuomo said.
He compared the risk for a face mask fine to how people can be penalized for "jaywalking erratically."
Cuomo's mask command came hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio urged supermarkets and grocery stores in the city to turn away customers who refuse to wear face coverings.
"This will help everyone to remember, when they're in that kind of space, it's so important to protect each other," de Blasio said at a briefing from City Hall. "Any customer who says 'No, I refuse" should not be allowed in ... The City of New York will back you up."
New Yorkers have been urged to cover their faces whenever outside under a voluntary recommendation issued by de Blasio on April 2. Cuomo's Wednesday order brings in a mandatory component.
Back in Albany, Cuomo said New York's coronavirus "curve" continues to flatten despite the 752 new deaths, which brought the state's total death toll to 11,586.
He said it's "almost disrespectful" to suggest it's "good news" that only 752 lives were lost in a 24-hour span.
But the "terrible'" numbers must be considered a depressing step in the right direction, Cuomo said.
"The painful news of our reality day after day," Cuomo said. "But you see the terrible news, it's basically been flat over the past several days."
He added," You see a flattening of the curve."
Late Tuesday, the New York City Health Department released a harrowing "revised" death toll that included victims who were presumed to have died from COVID-19 without testing positive for it.
Under that toll, 10,899 people have died in NYC alone _ a shocking tally that suggests the death toll is far higher than Cuomo says.
However, 4,059 of the deaths reported by the Health Department are listed as "probable."
Cuomo cautioned against lumping the "probable" and "confirmed" deaths together.
"The CDC changed its guidelines on how they want information reported. They want deaths and then another category of 'probable deaths,' which is a new category that's done by the local department of health or the coroner," the governor said. "So we're going to rationalize those new reporting requirements with local governments and get that information out as soon as we can."
