NEW YORK CITY (WROC) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave an update on New York state’s coronavirus response Tuesday, touching on the new data, travel advisory update, college COVID-19 clusters, K-12 district plans, voting, and more.

“A new phase”

It’s been 192 says since the virus arrived in New York, and the governor announced that for the 32nd straight day, the state’s infection rate was less than 1% — 0.96% of tests statewide came back positive Monday. The governor also said that there 445 hospitalizations, 114 New Yorkers with the virus being treated in an ICU, and 52 people intubated. The governor announced five New Yorkers died Monday from COVID-19.

While the data remains relatively steady, the governor is warning New Yorkers of challenges that loom.

“Today is day 192, but we’re entering a different phase right?” Gov. Cuomo said. “The situation started in March then blended into, basically, people starting an early summer vacation with April and May, but Labor Day starts a different phase. Labor day is when people start to get back to work, Labor Day schools are opening, activity is increasing, colleges are reopening, you see traffic starting to increase — which we’re seeing now.”

Along with increased civilian activity, the governor said flu season presents additional challenges.

“Flu season is starting,” Gov. Cuomo said. “Flu season is going to be a complicated factor, flu season means there’s going to be more stress on the testing system. Flu symptoms are much like COVID symptoms, so people who are sneezing, people who are snuffling, could be the flu, could be COVID.”

Travel advisory update

The governor announced four more states were added to the New York coronavirus travel advisory, which requires incoming travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

MORE | Delaware, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia added to New York coronavirus travel advisory; see the full list here

The travel advisory quarantine applies to any person that arrives from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average.

People caught violating the advisory risk civil penalties ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, Gov. Cuomo said earlier this summer.

There are exceptions to the quarantine travel advisory rules: Essential workers are exempt and stays of less than 24 hours in an area wouldn’t constitute enforcement.

For more information on the travel advisory, visit this New York state website.

College COVID-19 clusters

The governor said colleges are a problem for coronavirus and will continue to be a problem.

“You have NYU students who come from other countries, you have a large gathering, many people without masks, it went on for honors,” Gov. Cuomo said. “What do you think is going to happen? You know what 108 colleges nationwide have this problem. You know we’re closing colleges across the state. What do you think was going to happen?”

The governor said the New York State Department of Health would continue to monitor COVID-19 clusters on college campuses and intervene when necessary.

“Any school that goes over 100 COVID-19 positive cases has to report to the Department of Health, immediately, and if they go over 100 then the school can be closed down for remote learning,” Gov. Cuomo said.

New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker later clarified that the 100 case limit would be considered over a two-week span.

K-12 report cards

The governor also raised concerns about K-12 school districts reopening and he says the state is ready to help monitor virus spread as closely as possible.

“We’re going to have a COVID report cart for every school in the state,” Gov. Cuomo said. “Daily report card, how is the school doing on implementing their plan? Every school district has to report every day to the Department of Health as to how many tests were taken, what type of tests, what was the result.”

The governor said that the state will maintain the daily report cards to ensure districts are implementing their submitted reopening proposals.

“Daily report card; how is the school doing on implementing their plan,” Gov. Cuomo said. “The state will maintain it, they have to provide information to the state, the local health department has to provide information to the lab that does the test, has to provide information so the Department of Health is getting the information from three different sources so we’ll know that its right.

That report card launches Wednesday, and state officials say it will provide parents, teachers, students and all New Yorkers with comprehensive data updated on a daily basis, including:

• Positive infections by date of students & staff by school & school district
• Whether school/district (& student and staff) are remote, in-person, or hybrid
• Number of students and staff on-site
• Percentage of on-site students & staff who test positive
• Number of tests administered by the school, test type, lab used and lag time
• Date of last submission/update

A pres release from the governor’s office Tuesday said:

“The COVID-19 Report Card online dashboard features user-friendly design to make it easy for parents, teachers, students and all New Yorkers to access the data in one central location. Visitors to the website can simply type in their home address to identify their school district, select their specific school, and find all reported positives, a breakdown of testing and results for students and teachers and the current enrollment.  The dashboard will feature 7-day trend charts so visitors can track results over time.”

Voting confidence

The governor said it’s imperative that New Yorkers vote in the upcoming elections and he expressed the availability of absentee ballots and early voting sites statewide.

“If you have concerns about COVID, you can call it a temporary illness which is what makes you eligible for absentee voting,” Gov. Cuomo said. “You can then drop off a ballot at locations and polling sites in your area. You can drop off a completed ballot today at Board of Elections,or any early voting site in your county during the early voting period.”

Early voting in Monroe County begins on Saturday, October 23. For more information on local early voting dates, and locations, visit this website.

“Trump trying to kill NYC”

The governor was once again critical of President Donald Trumps, asserting that his policies are actively trying to hurt New York City.

“Trump is actively trying to kill New York City,” Gov. Cuomo said. “It’s personal, I think it psychological, he is actively trying to kill New York City.

The governor pointed to the president’s choices on infrastructure projects as well as his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as to reasons why Trump is actively undermining New York City.

“Only this president, a former New Yorker, refuses to sub the Second Avenue subway even after we opened it up to 96^th Street and did amazing turn around on the construction project that everybody celebrated,” Gov. Cuomo said. “Donald trump caused the COVID outbreak in New York that is a fact, that is a fact that he admitted, and the CDC admitted, and Fauci admitted.

“The virus killed many more Americans than anything you were worried about on the southern border,” Gov. Cuomo said. “This nation loses more people per day to COVID than any nation on the globe. You know who did that? Donald Trump’s incompetence. And now they won’t provide federal funding to help repair the damage from the ambush they created. That’s where we are. Federal government must provide a response — if they don’t provide a response, the national economy will suffer for years, every economists says that.

“COVID was the challenge of our lifetime,” Gov. Cuomo said. “I hope and pray, but compared to what we went through with COVID, dealing with the fiscal crisis is a mere bump.”

Daniel Prude

As the investigation into the death of Daniel Prude while in custody of the Rochester Police Department unfolds, it is gaining attention nationally and statewide.

“Last night, I watched the video of Daniel Prude’s death in Rochester. What I saw was deeply disturbing and I demand answers,” the governor said in a statement last Thursday. “Under Executive Order 147, which I signed in 2015 after the death of Eric Garner, the attorney general is investigating and I have full faith that she will complete a thorough review of the facts, get to the bottom of what happened and ensure that justice is served.”

Officials from the New York State Attorney General’s office say the Prude death investigation is active and ongoing. Saturday, the attorney general’s office announced the case is moving to a grand jury.

The governor commented further on the case during Tuesday’s briefing.

“The attorney general when it came to light last week, or whatever it was that video — which I thought was horrific — I called on the attorney general to expedite her actions in compliance with the law,” Gov. Cuomo said. “I think one of the questions we have to find out is how was this first handled by the police department to suggest that it was basically a health issue and was not a death caused by the actions of police officers, which is by the way going to be an ongoing discussion. Police are going to say what they said, ‘It wasn’t us. He was under the influence of drugs, he had on the spit hood which is normal procedure and it wasn’t because of police action.’ The video brought new light to the case.”

When asked why the investigation didn’t become public until months after Prude’s death, the governor deferred.

“You’d have to ask her, my guess is she did not have that video,” Gov. Cuomo said. “The state attorney general has investigation authority, I don’t direct her to investigate, she has legal authority by the executive order.”

According to New 8’s comprehensive timeline regarding the Daniel Prude death investigation, the New York State Attorney General’s office was in possession of the aforementioned police worn body camera footage as early as June 12, 2020.

This is a developing story. News 8 WROC will provide information as it becomes available.