Cuomo will receive International Emmy for his ‘masterful use of television’ during COVID crisis

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will receive an International Emmy award next week to celebrate his television appearances during the COVID-19 crisis, during which he reportedly acted as a calming influence to viewers around the globe.

Cuomo will receive the 2020 International Emmy 2020 Founders Award "in recognition of his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and his masterful use of television to inform and calm people around the world," the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced on Friday.

Cuomo's dozens of daily press briefings during the height of the COVID crisis in New York State "worked so well because he effectively created television shows, with characters, plot lines, and stories of success and failure," International Academy President Bruce Paisner said in the announcement.

"People around the world tuned in to find out what was going on, and New York tough became a symbol of the determination to fight back," Paisner added.

The award will be granted to Cuomo on Monday, Nov. 23.

The data-tracking website Worldometers lists New York State as having the second-highest adjusted death rate of all states in the U.S., behind only neighboring New Jersey.