Gov. Cuomo urges other states not to go about reopening ‘politically’

After dragging his heels on shutting down New York following the start of the coronavirus outbreak, a move that may have cost thousands of lives, Gov. Cuomo is now lecturing the rest of the country about reopening.

Discussing President Trump’s previous push to reopen the country by Easter, Cuomo said Sunday: “You know where we are now? Dow Jones tumbles again, fear of second wave. That’s what happens when you reopen and you don’t do it intelligently [and] you do it politically.”

The comments came in a softball interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” and as New York City was scheduled to enter phase two of reopening on Monday.

Cuomo continued to avoid responsibility for failing to act sooner to contain the virus -- which had claimed 24,725 New Yorkers’ lives as of Saturday -- saying, “I’ll answer for my actions and then history will decide.”

As late as March 17, he derided Mayor de Blasio’s call for a “shelter-in-place” order for New Yorkers, though he caved days later.

Recent research from Columbia University found 17,500 fewer people would have died in the New York City metropolitan area had lockdown measures gone into effect just a week earlier.

Cuomo sought to strike a personal note during the CBS interview.

“This was a frightening period. People were afraid for their life, literally. How do I keep my elderly parents safe?” he reflected. “I felt that also. And I wanted to connect with the people i was talking to.”

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