New York state is moving its presidential primary to June 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.

The state’s presidential primary was previously scheduled for April 28. It will now be held alongside the state’s congressional and legislative primaries, already taking place June 23, Cuomo said at a daily briefing. The tax filing deadline has also been extended to July 15, he said. 

“This is a new reality,” Cuomo said. “There is no easy answer, we’re all working through it and we all have to figure out a way to get through it.”

The novel coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected at least 649,000 and killed at least 30,000 worldwide. The number of confirmed cases in New York state has risen to at least 46,000 as of Saturday, and 728 people have died. 

The Food and Drug Administration has given approval to the New York State Department of Health to begin using an antibody test for COVID-19, Cuomo said. The test would allow medical personnel to assess whether patients with the virus have developed antibodies that would make them immune to the disease, the governor said.

“The Department of Health is working with private hospitals to enact this now,” he said. “This could be a big breakthrough if it happens.”

President Donald Trump has also given approval to the state to open four new emergency medical centers in New York City, Cuomo said. The centers would be located in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx and would bring an additional 4,000 hospital beds to the area, he said.

The state also plans to dedicate certain hospitals to treating only patients who have COVID-19, Cuomo said. If patients in the hospitals have only the virus, the staff has to work with only one type of issue, he said. 

“You don’t want a person who goes into a hospital with one situation developing COVID because they happen to be exposed,” Cuomo said.