Governor Andrew Cuomo slammed New Yorkers asking for the loosening of coronavirus closures as irresponsible and wanting other people to die, and insisting that public health comes before livelihoods of non-‘essential’ workers.
“The illness is death. What is worse than death?” Cuomo said at a press conference on Wednesday, when asked about protesters who argued the lockdowns might have a worse effect than the coronavirus.
You have a responsibility to me. It’s not just about you.
Public health is more important than anything else, Cuomo insisted, and wanting to go back to work means literally killing other people. When New Yorkers die from the virus, he feels “that it’s like people in my family.” His own brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, had the virus and recovered completely.
“You want to go to work? Go take a job as an essential worker,” he added.
A reporter asked Gov. Cuomo what he’d say to New Yorkers who want to go back to work because they’re running out of money, to which he replied, “economic hardship doesn’t equal death”“You want to go to work? Go take a job as an essential worker” he added https://t.co/BgwoOZsQRypic.twitter.com/WxGQxtg49p
The incongruity of the perfectly groomed governor wearing a pressed shirt with french cufflinks telling millions of New Yorkers to suck it up and deal with not being able to pay rent or feed their families did not escape Cuomo’s critics, who were quick to describe his comments as evil or a “slap in the face.”
“Which essential worker cut his hair?” wondered journalist Greg Pollowitz.
Many others chimed in accusing Cuomo of saying what amounted to “let them eat cake,” the comment long attributed to French Queen Marie Antoinette as proof of her indifference to the plight of the starving peasants – before they revolted and had her executed on the guillotine.
More charitable ones compared Cuomo to fellow Democrat Nancy Pelosi, who recently boasted on a comedy show about a freezer stocked with ice cream while holding up relief funding for small businesses.
As of last week, more than 22 million Americans have lost their jobs due to coronavirus lockdown, intended at first to prevent the collapse of the healthcare system. Now that it has been averted, the authorities in many states have extended the shutdowns, saying it was necessary to stop the spread of the virus altogether.
New York has accounted for the lion’s share of the 836,435 Covid-19 cases in the US, with over 251,000 registered cases. New York City alone has had 14,887 deaths as of Wednesday, almost a third of the US total of 45,950.
While the situation is severe in the five NYC boroughs and the neighboring counties, the rest of the state has fared much better. Cuomo has insisted on extending the statewide lockdown into May, however.
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