Video, B-Roll, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic

Earlier today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

VIDEO of the Governor's remarks is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

B-ROLL of the Governor distributing turkeys is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of today's remarks is available here.

PHOTOS are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning. No, correct that, good afternoon. Pleasure to be here. I want to thank the New York Common Pantry very much for having us. I want to thank Steve Grimaldi, who runs the Common Pantry, who's done great work. Steve, God bless you. I was looking at the numbers of how many meals you've served. You've done a fantastic job, thank you.

This is thanksgiving time and we have to remember how many people are in need and how difficult this period has been for so many on top of COVID. Washington is play games and play politics, and people aren't getting relief. So especially this Thanksgiving, let's remember the people we have in need.

We got some bad news. We lost really a political giant, a political pioneer in Mayor David Dinkins. I was relatively young fellow watching Mayor David Dinkins. I learned a lot from him. I worked with him many times for many years. He was extraordinary. He was beautiful, charismatic, principled, had a gentle but strong way about him.

And you want to talk about pioneers and groundbreakers, when he ran for mayor, you know, this was really such a step forward. David Dinkins, Percy Sutton, Basil Patterson, Charlie Rangel, they were really barrier breakers extraordinaire when they were doing it. They were cutting the brush and forging a path for so many to follow. But they went first, and the first person down the path, you catch all the briars, and all the scrapes, and when Mayor Dinkins was mayor, the city really had issues.

But we're all going to miss him. And he was really a New York champion and a beautiful New Yorker, and a mentor to me and a mentor to so many of us. So God bless David Dinkins. 2020 was a bad year, my friends. We're going to look forward to a new year.

Turn on the TV news, listen to the radio, everyone is concerned about Thanksgiving. Everyone is concerned about COVID and Thanksgiving, right. That's consuming all the news, all the chatter. Why are people concerned about Thanksgiving and COVID? And I want to make sure New Yorkers understand the facts. I don't know that they believe everything they hear on TV. I don't know that they should believe everything that they hear on TV. So I want to make sure they know the facts and they make the decision for themselves.

And two simple facts to keep in mind. COVID right now is on the increase. And we know how this works. There's a trajectory for the virus. When it's increasing, the increases form a line. The line goes up, goes up quickly, goes up gradually, but the line is going up. And you can factor out what's going to happen. New York has been smarter, frankly, than many other states on this, so you can see where the number's going.

By our current rate of increase, current, we're going to see a major spike. Okay? Over the past three weeks, statewide hospitalization rate has increased 128 percent. That means that line is going up. "Well what happed over the past three weeks?" the fall happened. And by the way, every expert said this was going to happen. "Oh, I'm shocked, oh, I'm surprised, oh, I can't believe it." Every expert said come the fall, it's going to get cold, more people will go indoors, there will be less outdoor activity, students will be coming home, the numbers are going to go up in the fall, everyone said it. What happened? The numbers are going up in the fall. You look at our statewide numbers, 1,200 people to 2,800 people per day in three weeks. That is a dramatic increase. Look at New York City, nearly 100 percent increase in three weeks. 484 people to 931. That's where we are today. We're experiencing that increase.

Add a second factor - we're entering the holiday season. It's not really just about Thanksgiving - it's the holiday season. We know what happens after Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. And the day after Thanksgiving they start playing Christmas music and the TV commercials are all, "Oh, it's Christmas time. Hanukkah time. Kwanzaa." And now there are Christmas parties and holiday parties and office parties - it starts a period of celebration and more social activity. Thanksgiving to January 2nd, 37 days. 37 days of increased social activity - that's what it is. Increased social activity will increase the rate of the viral spread. Fact. Fact. Fall will increase the spread, fact. The holiday season will increase the spread, fact. Fact.

Let's say, the holiday season increases the spread 20 percent. Some people estimate it will increase the spread more; some people estimate it will increase the spread less. Nobody really knows because nobody really knows. And it depends on what people do, but let's say it increases the spread 20 percent. The day after New Year's, New York State positivity will go from 2.9 to 12 percent. We'll be at 12 percent January 2nd. That's just taking our current rate of increase, adding 20 percent for the holiday season. 12 percent is a high number. New York City would be at 9 percent on January 2nd. Number of hospitalizations would go from 900 to 2,700 on a daily basis in New York City. Those numbers and that rate of increase is more than troublesome. Today, the micro-cluster positivity is 4 percent; statewide positivity without the micro-clusters, the micro-clusters are the areas that have the most intense infection rates, right? It's 2.6, overall it's 2.9. We did 164,000 tests. 47 deaths. That number is up again. And these are not numbers, right? Hospitalizations are up 132, ICU up, intubations up. We've seen this movie. We've all seen this movie. Positivity goes up, number of people going into hospitals goes up, number of people going into the hospitals goes up, number of people who go from a hospital bed to intensive care goes up. Number of people from intensive care to intubation goes up and then number of deaths go up. That is the trajectory. This is all too predictable at this point. Positivity goes up, you will then see the hospitals go up, you will see the ICU go up, you will see the intubation go up and you will see the deaths go up. That is exactly what is happening.

So this Thanksgiving we urge caution. It's really not going to be just this Thanksgiving. It's really this holiday season is the problem. It just starts on Thanksgiving. Everyone is talking about just Thanksgiving. It's the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday - it's going to be the same message. When we start to get into the holiday season, it's going to be the same message. New York rule is celebrate with no more than 10 people in your household. This caution is not a political issue. Everything now gets politicized. It's amazing how divided the nation is.

It's politically divided on everything and even on this issue of safety precautions on COVID, it's somehow become a political issue. This is has somehow become a political issue. I don't know how, but it's become a political issue. You hear the opposition, pro and con, on these safety measures for Thanksgiving, it's now a political issue. This is not a political issue because it doesn't matter what side of the political line you're on. Both parties agree on this one point.

Well I'm a Republican, I voted for Donald Trump. Donald Trump's CDC, his Center for Disease Control, reports to him. His CDC says only celebrate with people who are currently in your household. Only celebrate with people currently in your household. That's Donald Trump's administration. Don't invite people over. Don't bring Aunt Nancy over, don't bring Uncle Joe over. Currently in your household. That's the Trump administration saying that.

The Joe Biden advisors say the same thing. When is the last time you heard the Trump administration and Joe Biden agree on anything? Name one thing that they agree on. But they both agree on this. What does that say to you? What does that say to you that both sides agree on this? And what is the basis for the political opposition? Both sides agree on this. If you voted for Donald Trump, this is what he says to do. If you voted for Joe Biden, this is what they say to do.

Maybe they're right. Maybe we shouldn't politicize it. So, that means this is not going to be a normal Thanksgiving. This is not a normal Thanksgiving. It wasn't a normal Labor Day; it wasn't a normal Memorial Day; it was in our normal Summer; it's not normal in school; it's not normal at work; it's not a normal Thanksgiving. I know and it's hard. I know. I know and we all live it. It's hard for all of us. It's hard for me. I had thought that Thanksgiving was going to be the end point. My rationalization in my head all through COVID early on, through the summer, was when we get to Thanksgiving, then we can all be together again. I just needed to believe that it would be over. So, I said to myself Thanksgiving. That's when we will all be together, it'll be Thanksgiving. it'll be Thanksgiving and now we get to Thanksgiving, and it's not Thanksgiving. By the way, I believe we're going to get to Christmas, and I believe it's not going to be Christmas. The vaccine will not be distributed by Christmas. I think you're going to see the numbers going up through the holiday season.

I had my daughter Mariah, who's in Chicago, on the phone crying that she can't come back. She feels isolated in Chicago. She talked to a doctor who said, you know, if you get on a plane - even if you take a test - you then get on a plane, you could get exposed on the plane, you go through the airport you could get exposed through the airport. And by the way, you can take a test today, but if you've been infected in the past few days, you can test negative and still have the virus.

My mother, I didn't have the heart to talk to until last night. She's older and she just doesn't understand it. And I had the conversation last night. I had the same conversation with her this morning. She just does not understand it. She's 89 years old and you start to think, you know, how many Thanksgivings do I have left. And she says, and she's right, you know, "I haven't seen my sisters. I haven't seen my nieces and nephews." Yes. I know. It's all true but is not a normal Thanksgiving. So, I think of it this way: it's not a normal Thanksgiving; it's a special Thanksgiving. It's special. This Thanksgiving is more profound and deeper than most Thanksgivings. This one is more symbolic because this year we're giving thanks for all the people who sacrificed for us through the year. All the people who were heroic through the year. All the people who gave their lives for us during this year. All those essential workers who I asked to go to work and they did it. I mean it still amazes me. I was saying to New Yorkers, "It's dangerous. Stay home. Keep your children home. Close schools; close businesses. Stay home. Stay home. Stay home, but you essential worker, you have to show up tomorrow morning because we need you to drive the bus, we need you to drive the train, we need you to run the utility plant, nurse we need you to go, doctor we need you to go, ambulance driver we need you to go, food store clerk, minimum wage earner, we need you to go to work, so everybody else can stay home." And they went, and they died. That's why this Thanksgiving is special. There are tens-of-thousands of families who lost a loved one this Thanksgiving — tens-of-thousands who lost a loved one. Their father's not there, their mother's not there, their grandmother's not there. Tens-of-thousands. This Thanksgiving is more special and this Thanksgiving reminds us: we have a bigger family than we think we have. Our family is not just our immediate family. It's not even just the extended family. What we did together in New York showed that we are the family of New York. Those essential workers showed up like they were your brother or your sister or your mother or your father. That's the dedication that they showed. That's the love that they showed. So, this Thanksgiving we're celebrating it with the broader family of New York, and this Thanksgiving, we're remembering the less fortunate. Why? Because we're New York Tough and part of being New York tough is to be smart and to be united, and to be disciplined and to be loving.

And to remind people, because we're creative in New York and we have style, fashion capital of the world. We have style. We have a beautiful new mask design: "Don't be a turkey. This thanksgiving, wear a mask." We also cut to the chase as New Yorkers, right? We have a way of saying things where we cut to the chase. "Don't be a turkey. Wear a mask." And you look good wearing this mask. Jealous, aren't you? Jealous, jealous. I've been told I look better in this mask than without this mask. I've been told, the more I cover my face, the better I look. That's what I've been told. So, wear a mask. You can have this special edition turkey mask. We're going to be giving them out today and tomorrow and just think of the family picture standing with these masks on.