Governor Andrew Cuomo, in an interview with WAMC on Wednesday, acknowledged he should have urged New Yorkers to wear a mask sooner, in order to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. 

"I should have done masks earlier," Cuomo said. "It would have made a dramatic difference."

And Cuomo also acknowledged he and state health officials downplayed the threat of transmission from asymptomatic people in the first few weeks of the pandemic. 

"We spent months saying you have to be sneezed or coughed on, that was just wrong," Cuomo said. 

Masks are now commonplace for people to wear in supermarkets and stores, and businesses can prevent people from entering their premises if a person does not cover their face. 

Cuomo's statewide mask order was issued in mid-April, more than a month after the pandemic began to affect daily life in New York. 

The virus, at the time, was less understood, including how it was transmitted. Public health officials at all levels of government were also concerned with mask usage by a general population would make them harder for first responders and medical staff to obtain. 

New York was also one of the first states to issue a general mask order in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

Cuomo is writing a book on the pandemic, and what needs to be done to handle the crisis going forward. Cuomo in the radio interview refused to say how much he is earning from the book, insisting that will be in his financial disclosure form next year.

Specific numbers won't likely be available until April, when Cuomo traditionally makes his tax filing publicly available.