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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that protesters calling for the state to reopen the economy so they can go back to work could “get a job as an essential worker.”

Cuomo made the comment at the end of a long exchange with WRGB reporter Anne McCloy, who told the governor that she spoke with demonstrators outside New York’s state Capitol in Albany before heading inside for the daily press conference. The protesters told her they can’t wait for widespread coronavirus testing – which Cuomo has been pushing -- and want to return to work so they can have an income and feed their families, McCloy said.

“By the way -- if you want to go to work, go take the job as an essential worker. Do it tomorrow,” Cuomo said.

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“But the people aren’t hiring because of the pandemic,” McCloy responded.

“No, there are people hiring,” Cuomo said. “You can get a job as an essential worker, so now you can go to work and you can be an essential worker and you’re not going to kill anyone.”

Cuomo said earlier that “we get the economic anxiety, the question is how do you respond to it and do you respond to it in a way that jeopardizes public health and possibly causes more people to die?”

He also noted that the federal government is providing financial assistance for Americans and his state is “moving heaven and earth” to speed up payments to New Yorkers who file for unemployment.

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Cuomo has ordered non-essential businesses to remain closed through May 15. New York state has been hardest-hit by the coronavirus in the U.S., with an additional 474 deaths reported Wednesday.

“Beware because there can be a second wave or there could be a third wave. So don't be cocky just because you got hit by a wave and it didn't knock you off your feet. There can be a second wave,” Cuomo warned. “And if you're not ready for the second wave, that's the wave that's going to knock you down, because you're not ready for it.”