ALBANY, N.Y. - After 111 days of press conferences covering the coronavirus in New York, Governor Cuomo announced this would be his last.

“After 111 days of hell, they deserve a break. We all do,” he said of his employees.

Cuomo started his final briefing by pointing to the newest state recognized holiday ‘Juneteenth’ which marks the end of slavery.

Statewide testing continues as regions prepare to reopen.

Cuomo said 79,000 tests were given Thursday and the state will continue to monitor infection rates for a possible second wave of the virus.

This week, the state marked its lowest weekly infection rate and now the lowest weekly death rate since the pandemic began.

State experts are also allowing the city to enter a phase two reopening on Monday.

“Over the past three months, we have done the impossible,” he said proudly. “We are controlling the virus better than any state in the country and any nation on the globe.”

Cuomo said his efforts to reduce the infection rate have helped to save 100,000 people from being hospitalized and possibly dying.

He thanked frontline workers, health care professionals and volunteers for their efforts. “We will be stronger for what we have gone through.”

Cuomo was often critical of the federal government’s response at the height of the pandemic for playing politics, and didn’t hold back a line of questioning. “Why do our politics today play to our fears and weaknesses rather than appeal to our strengths?” he asked.

Finally, Cuomo said New York must build the economy back up and must lead the nation on police reform as a new era of civil rights and social justice mounts.