New York is doing more tests per capita than any other country in the world, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference today.
Cuomo said the state is currently testing an average of about 20,000 people per day. This includes both diagnostic and antibody tests.
He said the goal is to expand testing even further with federal partnership to be able to conduct 40,000 tests per day.
Cuomo said President Trump “understood the federal government had a role” in testing and that they came up with a “division of responsibility” when the two leaders met at the White House on April 21.
“The states take responsibility for the labs in their state and getting those labs functioning,” Cuomo said.
He said the states would regulate those labs while the federal government would ensure manufacturers were making enough supplies “to send to our labs so our labs can actually function,” Cuomo said.
“We need the national manufacturers to have the reagents, the test kits and that’s what the federal government is doing,” he added.
Antibody testing is also expanding across the state for frontline workers, Cuomo said.
The antibody testing will expand to four hospitals and healthcare systems, he added.
