Full speed ahead on drive-thru grad rites

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo gave the green light to drivein and drive-thru graduations Thursday in a bid to let students celebrate their academic accomplishments amid the coronavirus crisis.

The governor said still he opposes allowing outdoor graduations at the moment due to the risk of sparking a resurgence in COVID-19 deaths.

“The issue is the public health issue. You don’t want people sick and dead,” Cuomo said, noting that he sympathizes with families struggling with the idea of not gathering to honor students. “I get this, I get this on a personal level.”

His youngest daughter, Michaela graduated last week from Brown University.

“She worked so hard and it’s one of those real moments in life, going to a college graduation or a high school graduation, so not to have a graduation is painful. I get it,” the governor added.

As a graduation gift, Cuomo said he is giving Michaela his wristwatch, which his own father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, gave to him 14 years ago.

“I want something that means something to you,” Cuomo said his daughter told him. “She would not have said that at any other time but for this.”

Another 52 New Yorkers died of coronavirus on Wednesday, the governor said, up slightly from a day earlier. The statewide death toll is now 24,131.

The state has ramped up its testing efforts to nearly 50,000 tests a day.

“Testing is the most immediate data we have on where we are in this pandemic, giving us a fast snapshot of how many people are being infected,” Cuomo said.

He also encouraged anyone who has attended a protest in recent days in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died after a white officer knelt on his neck during an arrest in Minneapolis last week.