Andrew Cuomo is ordering everyone to wear face masks in public as part of a plan to start reopening New York

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that he's signing an executive order directing all state residents to wear face masks in public to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The order will go into effect on Friday.
• He also outlined a plan to reopen the economy in phases, based on strict testing, tracing, and isolating of those infected. He outlined the decision matrix the state will use to reopen businesses.
• Hospitalizations declined in New York, though 752 patients with COVID-19 died on Tuesday.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is signing an executive order directing everyone to don a face mask, bandana, or other cloth covering when in public.

"If you are going to be in a situation, in public, where you come into contact with other people in a situation that is not socially distanced you must have a mask or a cloth covering nose and mouth," Cuomo said on Wednesday afternoon from Albany.

Cuomo said he'll leave enforcement up to local jurisdictions, though no civil penalties or fines will be levied against those not wearing masks unless there is widespread non-compliance. He added that people should wear masks in places like public transportation or crowded intersections, but it's not necessary for more remote areas where there are fewer people and effective social distancing can be maintained.

The order will take effect on Friday.

Here are the other key takeaways from Cuomo's daily update:

• The total number of hospitalizations is down, building off of positive trends over the past few days.
• As of Wednesday morning, there were 18,335 patients hospitalized (362 less than the day before), 5,205 in ICUs (20 less than the day before), and 526,012 tests conducted to date. 2,253 New Yorkers were diagnosed with COVID-19 yesterday, per the state's Department of Health.
• Despite those positive signs, 752 New Yorkers died as a result of coronavirus since Tuesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 11,586.
• Cuomo said the state is working to bring its data on COVID-19 deaths inline with new CDC guidelines, which count "probable" coronavirus deaths, or people that died outside of hospitals or nursing homes where they were tested and their symptoms tracked.
• Cuomo said reopening the economy will come in phases and depends on widespread access and ability to test, trace, and quarantine those showing symptoms or testing positive.
• The state has developed a matrix to reopen businesses. They'll be judged on how "essential" their services are by the state - with an eye towards deeming another tranche of businesses essential - and how much of a risk the businesses pose to reinfecting people and spreading the virus.
• Cuomo said the pandemic - and the impact on the economy - won't be over for at least 12-18 months, until we have a vaccine or at least therapeutic treatments for sick patients, but testing and tracing can help start to reopen the economy and "build a bridge" to a "new normal."
• Cuomo said New York can serve as a "lab" for testing vaccines.
• Cuomo said the state will be able to test 2,000 people per day for COVID-19 antibodies, which indicates whether someone had the virus already. The state asked the FDA for approval for a test that could allow 100,000 per day.
• Boosting the test and trace capacity is difficult as the reagents that power the tests - and the ability to distribute the tests at scale - is hard to come by.
• "It's like getting Apollo 13 back to Earth," Cuomo said.

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