ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday he wants to start opening restaurants, theaters and offices by launching rapid testing sites in New York City and eventually other city centers throughout the state. The governor said he wants to launch hundreds of new rapid testing sites statewide by partnering with the real estate community and working with local governments to reduce bureaucratic hurdles. New York has a higher per-capita infection rate than 37 other states and reported 210,000 new COVID-19 positive tests over the last 14 days. Still, Cuomo in recent weeks has stressed the need to re-open a economy that shuttered last spring, when New York hospitals and nursing homes reported as many as 800 people dying each day.
Photo: Pedestrians walk past closed Theatres, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021, in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
