coronavirus new york

Coronavirus News: Question on lidless toilets leaves Gov. Cuomo completely stumped

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Cuomo admits he is completely stumped by toilet question

At the end of his press conference Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was completely stumped on how to answer a reporter's question.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- At the end of his press conference Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted a reporter's question left him completely stumped for the first time during the pandemic.

The subject matter? Lidless toilets.

"Do lidless toilets promote COVID virus?" Cuomo said. "Can I tell you something? I have done probably 300 hours of public briefings, and received 59 million viewers on the internet watching the briefings, and they send me a lot of questions. I think this is the first time I have been truly stumped by a question."

Cuomo said he understands why it's important to close a lid, but for anyone with a lidless toilet, he really doesn't know where to start.

"I really feel ashamed, but I do not know," Cuomo said.

That is when he introduced his health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker to appropriately answer the question.

"Not only is he a great medical doctor, but he is up on all public health and hygiene issues -- including appropriate facilities," Cuomo said.

Zucker said while he is not a plumber, he does know that the virus can spread through fecal matter and it's important to keep the lid down.

He even suggested social distancing for bathrooms with stalls that contain lidless toilets.

"But the toilet cover should be down independent of what your spouse says," Zucker said.

"Make a note -- you heard it here first," Cuomo said as he ended the news conference.