In this Tuesday, March, 10, 2020 photo, paramedics test samples taken from patients suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, at a laboratory in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Amin Nazari/ISNA via AP)

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to increase testing availability and access to address the spreading of coronavirus across New York state.

The urging from Schumer, D-New York, came as the World Health Organization declared the worldwide outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic. The senator noted that there are more than 1,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in the U.S., 200 of which are in New York state.

Schumer said the number of confirmed cases in New York is likely much higher, and noted the “woeful inadequacies” in federal testing availability.

“The top priority should be confronting the spread of the disease, and most importantly, the testing and clearing up the problem,” Schumer said.

Specifically, Schumer called on the Trump administration to handle five points to improve the ability to test for the coronavirus in New York:

• expedite the approval of labs who are ready and willing to provide testing. Every lab that is able to provide testing should be up and running as soon as possible;

• provide daily updates on the volume of tests both available and expected and set up a special office or bureau within HHS dedicated to managing the acquisition and distribution of tests. The conflicting reports and lack of information have left states unable to plan;

• support the use of automated testing to increase the speed and volume with which testing is conducted;

• ensure that patients who need tests face no out-of-pocket costs. The coverage requirements for testing are currently a patchwork of state executive orders and private company actions;

• ensure that COVID-19 hotlines are fully staffed and responsive to patients and providers who have questions and concerns.

He said the state is in the midst of an emergency, with 14 people hospitalized due to the coronavirus. “Thank God there have been no deaths,” he said, noting the lack of testing available to impacted communities. “When you can’t test, you don’t know who has the virus and who doesn’t have the virus. This is going to be a problem that is going to continue.”

Also of concern is the out-of-pocket cost that could be associated with testing. Schumer said legislation will be introduced in the U.S. Senate requiring testing be covered by insurance on a nationwide scale. New York is among several states that ordered insurance companies not to charge residents who get tested.

“This is an emergency, and costs shouldn’t stand in the way,” Schumer said.

Speaking in Geneva on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the spread of COVID-19 had reached the level of a pandemic, noting there are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries and 4,291 deaths.

He said that while the declaration “doesn’t change what countries should do” to aggressively contain the virus, the U.N. health agency is “deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity.”

Tedros said: “We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear.

Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he will ask business owners to stagger their employees’ work shifts or let them work from home to reduce potential coronavirus exposures.

“I’m going to ask them voluntarily to do telecommuting, two shifts, a morning shift and a late shift, and let people work from home voluntarily,” Cuomo said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The announcement came the day after Cuomo declared a one-mile-radius “containment area” in a suburban community with more than 100 cases of the virus, COVID-19.

Several schools and houses of worship in New Rochelle, just north of New York City, are closed for two weeks, and Cuomo said the National Guard would be sent in to help deliver food to quarantined people.

The new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough for most patients but can cause more severe illness for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.

Cuomo said on CNN that there were about 20 new confirmed cases in New York state, up from Tuesday’s count of 173. A spokesman for the Democratic governor said additional test results would be announced later Wednesday.

The strategy of staggering work hours to reduce rush-hour crowding was widely used during the 1918 influenza epidemic.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.