New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Friday said the coronavirus pandemic has hit a "plateau," as the curve of hospitalizations in the state begins to flatten.
The governor urged caution, however, in assuming the virus was on the downslope. He noted that often pandemics come in waves, and said that the U.S. should look to other countries around the world to learn from their experiences in restarting their economies.
Cuomo also stressed that putting New Yorkers back to work hinges on the level of testing that is available across the state.
"It's going to be a gradual, phased process, and it's going to be reliant on testing," he said.
The Department of Health is currently doing 300 tests per day, according to Cuomo. The goal is to ramp that up to 1,000 per day by next Friday and 2,000 per day the following week.
"That sounds like a lot, but 2,000 tests is still a drop in the bucket," he elaborated.
Cuomo urged the federal government to invoke the Defense Production Act to help produce the "millions" of tests necessary to send people back to work safely.
"We have nine million people we'd like to get back to work," he said. "You need more than several thousand tests per week if this is going to happen anytime soon. Private sector companies on their own won't be able to come to scale."
"You're going to need government intervention to make that happen, and the federal government is in the best position to do that," he added.
There have been a total of 161,807 confirmed cases and 7,844 deaths — 777 over the past 24 hours — in the state.
Nestlé has dismissed its CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a direct subordinate. The company announced on Monday that the dismissal was effective immediately. An investigation found that Freixe violated Nestlé’s code of conduct. He had been CEO for a year. Philipp Navratil, a longtime Nestlé executive, will replace him. Chairman Paul Bulcke stated that the decision was necessary to uphold the company’s values and governance. Navratil began his career with Nestlé in 2001 and has held various roles, including CEO of Nestlé's Nespresso division since 2024.
Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies a decade after they joined in a massive merger that created one of the biggest food companies on the planet. One of the companies will include brands such as Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese and Kraft Mac & Cheese. The other will include brands like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. When the company formed in 2015 it wanted to capitalize on its massive scale, but shifting tastes complicated those plans, with households seeking to introduce healthier options at the table. Kraft Heinz's net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.
