Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.

The federal government must share responsibility for expanded coronavirus testing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday, pushing back on President Trump’s stance that the burden lies primarily with the states, as the number of daily deaths dipped below 500 for the first time in weeks.

“I think the president is right when he says the states should lead,” said Cuomo in an Albany press briefing.

“What those states will run into is … those labs can only run as many tests as the national manufacturers provide them chemicals, reagents and lab kits,” Cuomo contended. “The national manufacturers say they have supply chain issues. I’d like the federal government to help on those supply chain issues.”

Cuomo was responding to a pair of Monday tweets in which the president accused Democratic leaders of being impossible for the federal government to please.

“Now they scream ‘Testing, Testing, Testing,’ again playing a very dangerous political game,” the president wrote in one message. “States, not the Federal Government, should be doing the Testing – But we will work with the Governors and get it done.”

Cuomo has repeatedly stressed that expanded testing — both for new cases of disease, and antibodies in those who beat it — is key to reopening the economy, as the president has called for.

And the best way to step up testing is through a partnership of the statehouse and the White House, Cuomo said.

“Should the states take the lead on tests? Yes,” the governor said. “But we need the volume, and the volume is going to be determined by how well those national manufacturers provide the kits to the 300 labs in New York.

“The federal government, you’re painting a room with a roller,” Cuomo continued. “Somebody has to come behind you with a brush and do the details. … Let the federal government do what they can, if it requires a brush, let the state government do it.”

Cuomo made the call for a united front as New York continued to look toward the next phase of its fight against the coronavirus.

An additional 478 deaths were reported in the 24-hour period ending at midnight Monday, running the state total to 14,347 fatalities.

As staggering as the daily toll remains, it marks the first time that the state tallied fewer than 500 daily deaths since April 1, when 432 fatalities were counted.

Total coronavirus hospitalizations continued their slow but steady statewide decline, as 16,103 were recorded Sunday as opposed to 16,213 the day prior.

In another encouraging sign, new hospitalizations stayed effectively flat, with 1,380 on Sunday, after 1,384 patients were admitted Saturday.

With the worst of the contagion apparently having blown through, and the focus turning to an arduous rebuilding process, Cuomo stressed the importance of finding some silver lining from the nightmare.

“Let’s at least make this a moment that when we look back, we can say, ‘Wow, we went through hell, but look at all the lessons we learned and how much better we made this place,'” he said.