In a press conference Saturday, Governor Cuomo made a plea for more ventilators as he demonstrated using bag valve masks in a worst case scenario.

"We are actually buying these," he said of the bag valve masks. The state has purchased about 3,000 at this time and will train the National Guard to use them. The governor said he does not want to have to use them.

Cuomo said demand has driven the cost up to $45,000 apiece and in order to prepare for an apex of hospitalizations, he said that the state is stockpiling the ventilators.

The governor called for hospital staff to “think holistically” to avoid individual hospitals from getting overwhelmed. “Staff can and should be moved among those local hospitals” to shift the burden, he said.

Although the number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions decreased over a 24-hour period, Cuomo said this wasn’t necessarily news to be celebrated.

Cuomo said 7,328 people remain hospitalized, with 1,755 in the ICU. There were 6,287 people hospitalized with coronavirus in New York City as of 4 p.m. Saturday. (That number accounts for 20 percent of all confirmed city cases.)

The governor confirmed 7,681 new coronavirus cases statewide, bringing the total to 52,318 cases. As of 4 p.m. Saturday, there were 30,765 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York City.

The number of deaths has climbed to 728 statewide. There were 672 coronavirus deaths in New York City as of 4 p.m. Saturday.

The President has approved four new sites that Cuomo has toured for temporary hospitals including the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, Aqueduct Racetrack, CUNY Staten Island, and the New York Expo Center. He says every borough will now have one. “That was important to me,” Cuomo said.

The temporary emergency hospital at the Javits Center, which was built in one week, is set to open Monday. Cuomo said the USNS Comfort will be used as a backfill hospital and should also arrive by Monday.

On the issue of density, Cuomo said the Department of Health is monitoring density and activity in NYC Parks, and that the plan is premised on the fact that people reduce density on playgrounds, saying “if density compliance is not working on voluntary basis, we will close those playgrounds.”

Cuomo said the April 28 Presidential Primary will be postponed to June 23 in an effort to consolidate previously scheduled congressional and state legislative primaries to the same day. “I don’t think it’s wise to be bringing a lot of people to one location,” he said.

In his press conference, Cuomo also said he’s asking pharmacies to offer free home delivery as customers wait in long lines for prescriptions.

Regarding President Trump's call to open up the economy, Cuomo suggested the state of New York implement some sort of widespread home testing for people to ensure they don't carry the virus.

When asked about the president’s comments on considering an “enforceable quarantine” for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Cuomo said he hasn’t spoken to the president and that he doesn’t like the sound of an "enforceable quarantine."

Still, the governor offered some perspective to a dire situation.