Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday said the coronavirus will leave an 'entire generation' facing post-traumatic stress disorder.

Speaking to The Daily Show the New York lawmaker opened up on the 'heavy burden' of death toll and said: 'I still hold myself responsible.'

Discussing the emotional toll on the day the death toll in the Empire State hit 15,302 Cuomo said: 'Was there anything else that we could be doing right now? That is a very heavy burden to bear.'

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were more than 250,000 confirmed cases across the state. Gov Cuomo compared the death toll to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 which he said were 'supposed to be the worst experience of my life'.

He told Trevor Noah: 'Part of the information was personal, because this is traumatic, this is PTSD for an entire generation that will talk about this.

'And it is personal, so I try to communicate how I feel personally, my fear and my anxiety as part of this to say to you you are not alone. Everyone is feeling this, I am feeling it too.'

Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday told The Daily Show the coronavirus will leave an 'entire generation' facing post-traumatic stress disorder

“This is PTSD for an entire generation that will talk about this.”@NYGovCuomo discusses the emotional toll of the pandemic tonight at 11/10c. pic.twitter.com/HCPYBqfITa — The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) April 23, 2020

Times Square is virtually deserted Tuesday. Cuomo opened up on the 'heavy burden' of death toll in the state and said: 'I still hold myself responsible'

'The one differentiation is I have to deal with the number of deaths in the state', Cuomo continued.

'15,000 people, Trevor. 9/11 2,700 people. That was supposed to be the worst experience of my life, I believe.

'That weighs heavily on me. I can sit here and say to you I believe that we did everything that could possibly be done, be done.'

Gov. Cuomo met with President Donald Trump Tuesday afternoon and said the pair had a 'functional and effective conversation' in the Oval Office.

'The president doesn't like me', Cuomo admitted.

But the governor said the two men had an 'honest, detailed conversation about testing', adding: 'Who cares about how he or I feel personally.'

He added of the situation in New York: 'I don't believe we lost anyone because we didn't have a bed and we didn't have doctors and nurses. We did that.

'But we still lost 15,000 people and I still am the governor and I still hold myself responsible and I still say to myself what else could I do.'

A woman wears a face mask as she passes flags flying at half-mast outside the World Trade Center on April 09 after Cuomo directed flags to be flown at half-staff for coronavirus victims

Cuomo had earlier urged protesters bemoaning a lack of work to take some of the thousands of advertised essential retail jobs on Wednesday as tensions continued to bubble across the country over when America can get back to work.

But Cuomo acknowledged that the 'pressure people are under is phenomenal and it's traumatic'. He added: 'People are about to burst...but it's impossible to make both sides happy, for me it's about data.'

He said the news that his brother, CNN host Chris, has tested positive for the virus was 'terrible'.

The governor admitted: 'He is my best friend, but he gets sick and i cant even go and see them. I cant help the kids, it's terrible. There is nothing i can do to help, it is a humbling situation.

'You worry every day that he is going to be the one who loses his life, that dies from it.'

Waves of people are said to be trying to leave New York for the suburbs and smaller cities amid growing fears that the city may never return to its former glory or that it will take years to get there.

Among those fleeing are parents with young children who had already been eyeing moves to suburbs and were give a push when the pandemic hit, and frustrated singletons who no longer see the point in paying exorbitant rent prices for small apartments when there is no city beyond their homes for them to enjoy.

Cuomo said Wednesday: 'We showed that we can control the spread. The numbers are all on the decline and that's the good news.'