New coronavirus statistics announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday morning seem to show that New York could be past its apex.

Hospitalizations continue to decline as well as ICU admissions and intubations. However, 540 people died from COVID-19 Friday in New York, and there are still around 2,000 people that come into the hospital every day.

Gov. Cuomo called it “an overwhelming number.”

Cuomo says the key to controlling the infection and to reopening the economy remains in testing.

“Testing is the single most important topic,” Cuomo said. “Testing is how you monitor the rate of infection and you control for it.”

New York, to date, has conducted around a half a million coronavirus tests, which is more than any other state or country. However, Cuomo says this needs to be scaled up even further to reopen the economy in the state. 

"How fast can you reopen and what can you reopen without raising that infection rate?" said Cuomo.

Cuomo says he approached the top 50 test producing labs in the state and asked what he could do for them so they could double their production. The biggest challenge for many private labs is obtaining chemical reagents from manufacturers. Manufacturers distribute these chemicals based on rules from the federal government and materials they can get from China.

“That’s the logjam that we are in,” said Cuomo.

Cuomo says he is asking the federal government to work with China and manufacturers in getting these materials to private labs so testing can be quickly ramped up in the state.

The federal government did send 1.5 million masks to New York state, made by the Hanes corporation, Cuomo announced, that will be distributed to the public. 

Cuomo will also be signing an executive order allowing people to get a marriage license remotely and allow clerks to perform ceremonies over video.

"There's now no excuse when the question comes up," Cuomo joked. “You can do it by Zoom."