Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that he is extending the "pause" due to the coronavirus pandemic until May 15. The policy, which applies statewide, orders residents to stay in their homes, bans mass gatherings and requires individuals to practice social distancing when in public. 

Non-essential businesses will remain closed until May 15. While several types of businesses have been identified as essential, others — including casinos, golf courses and salons — are closed. 

Cuomo decided to continue the shutdown based on the state's COVID-19 infection rate. Early projections suggested that the state could have an infection rate as 1.8, meaning that one person with COVID-19 would infect an average of 1.8 people with the virus. 

The state's actual infection rate is 0.9 — one person with the virus is infecting an average of less than one other person. It's a positive sign, but there is a risk that the rate could spike again. If that happens, it will overwhelm hospitals in New York. 

"The closedown has worked," Cuomo said. "However, we're not there yet." 

The additional month-long shutdown could lower the infection. In the meantime, states like New York are developing plans to reopen the economy. 

Cuomo encouraged businesses to "reimagine" their workplaces. That includes the adoption of work-from-home policies for the employees who can complete their tasks remotely. Precautionary measures for interactions with customers should also be a priority. 

Testing is part of the strategy, too. Cuomo repeated what he's said this week — that states need to partner with the federal government to expand testing capacity. New York has tested more than 550,000 people for the coronavirus — more than California, Florida and Michigan combined. 

If New York can adopt changes and increase testing over the next month, will the economy reopen in mid-May? Cuomo didn't want to offer any projections. 

"We will see depending on what the data shows," he said.

In other news: 

• New York's coronavirus death toll is up to 12,192 after 606 more people died Wednesday. 

Of the 606 deaths, 577 people died in hospitals and 29 perished in nursing homes. 

Cuomo called nursing homes "ground zero for this situation." The state is planning to release more data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, including facility-specific data. 

• Total hospitalizations continue to decline. As of Thursday, 17,735 COVID-19 patients were in New York hospitals. That's down from 18,335 one day before. 

There were 1,996 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, but there are negative net changes in the number of intensive care unit admissions and intubations. 

• New York will send 100 ventilators to New Jersey, Cuomo announced Thursday. The state is already sending ventilators to Maryland and Michigan.