The opinions and statements contained in this book are those of the author only and do not represent those of any state government agency.
Copyright © 2020 by Andrew M. Cuomo
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
CROWN and the Crown colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Hardback ISBN 9780593239261
Ebook ISBN 9780593239278
crownpublishing.com
Book design by Barbara M. Bachman, adapted for ebook
Cover design: Christopher Brand
ep_prh_5.6.0_c0_r0
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
March 1 | 1 New Case | 0 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 2 | 0 New Cases | 0 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 3 | 1 New Case | 1 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 6 | 22 New Cases | 5 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 7 | 11 New Cases | 10 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 9 | 28 New Cases | 8 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 10 | 63 New Cases | 14 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 11 | 44 New Cases | 32 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 12 | 56 New Cases | 47 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 13 | 102 New Cases | 50 Hospitalized | 0 Deaths
March 14 | 164 New Cases | 117 Hospitalized | 2 Deaths
March 15 | 131 New Cases | 137 Hospitalized | 1 Death
March 16 | 294 New Cases | 158 Hospitalized | 6 Deaths
March 17 | 432 New Cases | 326 Hospitalized | 5 Deaths
March 18 | 1,009 New Cases | 496 Hospitalized | 4 Deaths
March 19 | 1,769 New Cases | 617 Hospitalized | 22 Deaths
March 20 | 2,950 New Cases | 1,042 Hospitalized | 8 Deaths
March 21 | 3,254 New Cases | 1,406 Hospitalized | 12 Deaths
March 22 | 4,812 New Cases | 2,043 Hospitalized | 38 Deaths
March 25 | 5,145 New Cases | 4,079 Hospitalized | 75 Deaths
March 27 | 7,379 New Cases | 6,481 Hospitalized | 134 Deaths
March 28 | 7,681 New Cases | 7,328 Hospitalized | 209 Deaths
March 29 | 7,195 New Cases | 8,503 Hospitalized | 237 Deaths
March 30 | 6,984 New Cases | 9,517 Hospitalized | 253 Deaths
March 31 | 9,298 New Cases | 10,929 Hospitalized | 332 Deaths
April 4 | 10,841 New Cases | 15,905 Hospitalized | 630 Deaths
April 5 | 8,327 New Cases | 16,837 Hospitalized | 594 Deaths
April 7 | 8,174 New Cases | 17,493 Hospitalized | 731 Deaths
April 8 | 10,453 New Cases | 18,079 Hospitalized | 779 Deaths
April 13 | 6,337 New Cases | 18,825 Hospitalized | 671 Deaths
April 14 | 7,177 New Cases | 18,697 Hospitalized | 778 Deaths
April 15 | 11,571 New Cases | 18,335 Hospitalized | 752 Deaths
April 20 | 4,726 New Cases | 16,103 Hospitalized | 478 Deaths
April 21 | 4,178 New Cases | 16,044 Hospitalized | 481 Deaths
April 22 | 5,526 New Cases | 15,599 Hospitalized | 474 Deaths
April 24 | 8,130 New Cases | 14,258 Hospitalized | 422 Deaths
April 27 | 3,951 New Cases | 12,819 Hospitalized | 337 Deaths
April 30 | 4,681 New Cases | 11,598 Hospitalized | 306 Deaths
May 1 | 3,942 New Cases | 10,993 Hospitalized | 289 Deaths
May 10 | 2,273 New Cases | 7,262 Hospitalized | 207 Deaths
May 11 | 1,660 New Cases | 7,226 Hospitalized | 161 Deaths
May 17 | 1,889 New Cases | 5,897 Hospitalized | 139 Deaths
May 29 | 1,551 New Cases | 3,781 Hospitalized | 67 Deaths
June 1 | 941 New Cases | 3,331 Hospitalized | 54 Deaths
June 2 | 1,329 New Cases | 3,121 Hospitalized | 58 Deaths
June 12 | 822 New Cases | 1,898 Hospitalized | 42 Deaths
June 15 | 620 New Cases | 1,608 Hospitalized | 25 Deaths
June 18 | 618 New Cases | 1,358 Hospitalized | 29 Deaths
June 19 | 716 New Cases | 1,220 Hospitalized | 25 Deaths
The Aftermath
A Blueprint for Going Forward
Photo Insert
Dedication
Acknowledgments
By Andrew Cuomo
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
I NORMALLY DON’T TURN OFF MY cellphone when I sleep, because the work of being governor is literally twenty-four hours a day, and the phone pings all night long. If I’m really tired, I will turn it off, but that doesn’t mean people can’t get me; it’s just harder. My office phone is always answered, at night by a New York State trooper. Callers must convince the trooper that their issue is really important. Some troopers are easier to convince than others. Some troopers decide that it’s safer to put all callers through, but as I joke to my team, those troopers learn quickly that it is not in fact safer when they are then assigned to different duties.
When my cellphone rang late on March 1, I hadn’t turned it off, but I didn’t get to it in time. Moments later, the landline rang. It was Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor and my top aide. Brilliant, tough, indefatigable, and widely respected, she is the quarterback on my team and is responsible for managing all the pieces.
“Governor, I’m sorry to stalk you with the multiple calls, but we just received a confirmation from Wadsworth.” This was the New York State Department of Health’s lab in Albany. “New York has its first case of coronavirus—a health-care worker who just returned to New York City from Iran. We believe the incident is isolated. I have Dr. Zucker on the other line. Can I conference him in?”
“Please put him through,” I said.
As the state health commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, began to run through the patient’s background, symptoms, and literal steps taken between landing at JFK airport and reaching her apartment in Manhattan, it seemed as though white noise washed over the line. I couldn’t prove it, but I knew this wasn’t New York’s first coronavirus case. And I knew the country wasn’t prepared.
The good news that night was that this was a fairly straightforward case, which would hopefully not cause great public alarm: The thirty-nine-year-old woman had traveled to Iran to provide health services and returned to New York feeling ill, but she knew to take
