NEW YORK _ Three people died of coronavirus and COVID tests came back with a 1% positive rate on Saturday, numbers Gov. Andrew Cuomo hailed as "really great news."
Speaking in Albany on Sunday, he said, "1% has been from day one the maximum transmission rate you want.
"That '1' is one new infected person infects one more. Over 1, it's one person is infecting more than one. That's what they call (an) outbreak. You don't want to go there."
Out of 53,568 COVID tests, 536 came back positive Saturday, according to the governor.
There were 637 hospitalizations as of Saturday, nine down from the day before, he added.
Cuomo slammed the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post and Wall Street Journal for urging Americans to rush the reopening process.
"The infection rate is low because we have done an intelligent, phased reopening," the governor said. "What they are advocating has been demonstrated to be wrong and to be a failure.
"Florida listened to the New York Post. Texas listened to the Wall Street Journal. Arizona listened to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. That was wrong."
Those states are among 35 residents of which are required to undergo a two-week quarantine upon visiting New York State, due to ongoing outbreaks there.
Discussing debate in Washington over sending bailout funds to localities, Cuomo said budget cuts will be necessary in the Empire State if Congress and President Trump don't deliver by about mid-August, when Congress goes into recess.
"They had been saying, 'We're going to do it, we're going to do it, we're going to do it.' Then they didn't, they didn't, they didn't," the governor said. "It's going to be this last action, whether that's in one week or two weeks. But I don't believe we're going to get past that."
