Andrew Cuomo says coronavirus has created ‘PTSD for an entire generation’

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says an entire generation will suffer PTSD due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democrat appeared on “The Daily Show” with Comedy Central’s Trevor Noah Wednesday evening for a wide-ranging interview on the contagion when the mental health of New Yorkers — and the nation at large — came up.

“On the communication, which is so important because really this is all a voluntary program by New Yorkers, right, they changed their behavior and brought down the infection rate,” Mr. Cuomo said. “But I gave them the information. 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 and my fear and my anxiety as part of this to say to you, you’re not alone — everybody’s feeling this, I’m feeling it too.”

Mr. Cuomo then likened coronavirus to a more traumatic version of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks because of the death toll.  

“I have to deal with the number of deaths in the state,” he said. “Fifteen thousand people, Trevor. 9/11 had 2,700 people — that was supposed to be the worst experience of my life, I believed. Twenty-seven hundred people. This is 15,000 people. Four-hundred seventy-four yesterday. That weighs heavily on me.”

Johns Hopkins University has reported nearly 47,000 deaths due to coronavirus across the U.S.

The total number of U.S. cases out of a population of roughly 330 million people sits at 843,981.

“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