Coronavirus could be '6, 7, 8, 9 month affair': NY's Cuomo

Coronavirus could be '6, 7, 8, 9 month affair': NY's Cuomo

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned residents on the trajectory he sees for the coronavirus in the state, saying, "I think we're looking at a matter of months, and people should start to calibrate that into their expectation."

Cuomo on Friday (March 13) spoke about a drive-thru coronavirus testing facility in New Rochelle - an infection hotspot in Westchester County, north of New York City.

He also warned New Yorkers that the coronavirus spread could last months.

The New York State Department of Health can authorize certain laboratories to begin testing for the coronavirus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.

The agency is granting this flexibility due to the urgent public health need for additional testing capacity in the United States.

Boosting testing capacity is crucial to assessing the scope of the U.S. outbreak and identifying where it is spreading most rapidly.