Coronavirus USA: Treasury Secretary Says New York May Take Longer To Reopen Than Rest Of Country

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that New York may take longer to “reopen” its economy than other parts of the United States. Mnuchin said that states should be opened “based on medical conditions” rather than the strength of their economies.

“So obviously we’d like to open up as much GDP as we can,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” program. “My expectations are that places like New York are going to take a little bit longer.”

New York is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, with 140,386 cases and 5,489 deaths as of Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET. The state has shut down all non-essential businesses and banned large social gatherings in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that his state could “stabilize” in weeks if social distancing politics were maintained, but said daily life for New Yorkers will likely not return to normal.

“I don’t think we return to normal. I don’t think we return to yesterday,” Cuomo remarked at a press conference in the state’s capital, Albany. “I think if we’re smart, we achieve a new normal.”

Cuomo has frequently sparred with President Trump over medical supplies, with Cuomo pressuring the White House for more ventilators. Trump downplayed the need for ventilators in an interview with Fox News.

“I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” Trump told host Sean Hannity. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators. And now, all of a sudden, they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’”

Trump has been frequently criticized for his handling of the pandemic and for downplaying the virus in the early stages of the outbreak. In early March, Trump deflected criticism to his predecessor Barack Obama, saying that Obama's administration had made decisions that made testing less "accurate and rapid. "Trump did not provide specifics for the claim.