New York governor Andrew Cuomo has said all professional sports leagues will be able to begin training camps in the state starting Sunday.

Teams must follow all appropriate health protocols amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

With the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS all working on plans to play, Cuomo encouraged sports that can be held without fans in attendance to do so if the economics can be worked out. 

"Do it! Do it!" Cuomo said. "We want you up.

"We want people to be able to watch sports. To the extent people are still staying home, it gives people something to do. It's a return to normalcy. 

"So we are working and encouraging all sports teams to start their training camps as soon as possible. And we'll work with them to make sure that can happen.'' 

New York has been the hardest-hit state in the U.S. with roughly 355,000 reported cases and 29,000 deaths due to COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.