New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo invited Major League Baseball teams to play through the season in his state on Tuesday, touting “one of the lowest infection rates” of COVID-19 in the U.S.
The MLB is struggling to contain an outbreak of the disease among the Miami Marlins that has sparked concerns that the sport’s whole season may be canceled. MLB officials called emergency meetings this week after two coaches and over a dozen players for the Marlins tested positive for the virus on Sunday and Monday.
“New York state could host any Major League Baseball game that any teams want to play and they could play those games in our stadiums,” Cuomo said during a briefing, according to Politico. “New York state has one of the lowest infection rates in the United States. New York state has a full Department of Health protocol system in place. We have a testing system in place. I offer to Major League Baseball, if you’re having problems playing in other states, come play here.”
Continuing the baseball season would be “good for the economy, I think it would be good for the psyche, I think it would be good for the nation’s soul,” Cuomo said.
New York became known as the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States in March as cases and deaths across the state skyrocketed. New York still has the second-highest fatality rate for the disease behind New Jersey, though the rate of New York’s daily positive cases and deaths has trended down in recent weeks.
“We could set up a protocol where you get on a private plane in a high risk state, you land in New York, you are transported directly from a plane to a quarantine hotel,” Cuomo said. “You are in the quarantine hotel and tested in the quarantine hotel. If you are negative, you play ball.”
“I understand the practical dynamics — teams want to play in their own state and city. I get it,” Cuomo continued. “There’s no fans anyways, it’s just about the coverage, and New York is the media capital.”
Cuomo has faced criticism from health professionals, lawmakers, and residents over a controversial health policy that forced elderly patients infected with the coronavirus into dozens of nursing homes across the state with uninfected residents.
In early July, Cuomo’s administration released the findings of an internal investigation into the policy’s impact, reporting that the disease’s spread through the state’s elderly population was driven by nursing home workers. Many dismissed the report as an attempt to shift blame and avoid responsibility.
When pressed on the policy, Cuomo has asserted that New York’s death toll among its nursing homes could not have been avoided.
“What is justice? Who can we prosecute for those deaths? Nobody,” Cuomo said in May. “Nobody. Mother Nature. God. Where did this virus come from? People are going to die by this virus. That is the truth. Best hospital system on the globe, I believe we have. Best doctors, best nurses who have responded like heroes, every medication, ventilators, the health system wants for nothing. We worked it out so we always had available beds. Nobody was deprived of a bed or medical coverage in any way.”