According to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the first three areas of the state that meet all the criteria to reopen Friday are the Rochester/Finger Lakes Region, the Southern Tier and the Mohawk Valley.
Speaking in Irondequoit at his daily briefing, the governor said the state response to COVID-19 now pivots from closing to reopening, with local government officials acting on a regional basis to determine which businesses reopen first. The businesses will then announce how many employees should report of Friday, May 15 and when. All of this information should be released before Friday, according to the governor.
The phased re-opening of businesses will start with manufacturing and retailing, and also include landscaping, gardening and drive-in movie theaters. All this must be done with appropriate precautions, including social distancing, wearing masks and sanitizing the workplaces regularly.
Other “higher risk” businesses will reopen in Phase II, providing there’s no spike in infection and hospitalization rates. Cuomo says it will be up to county officials, acting on a regional basis, to decide if the reopening can continue or they have to clamp back down to protect public health. Basically, that will be county executives, county managers and mayors across the various regions of the state. The governor says they’ll need to be ready to pull the plug if necessary.
As far as the pandemic is concerned, Governor Cuomo says COVID-19 deaths over the past 24 hours (as of Monday morning) are down to 161. New infections are now less than 500, back where we were in mid-March when the pandemic started in New York.