Cuomo Details Plans For Reopening NY – Construction Before Retail, Upstate 1st

Parts of New York could start reopening as early as May 15, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday as he outlined a two-phase plan to begin reopening the state, emphasizing that different regions will have different schedules but that the dense population of New York City will need to have at least some “summer activities” open for residents, in what appeared to be a contradiction to comments from the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio.

KEY FACTS

Cuomo announced a two-phase plan to reopen the state, but said the timing will vary by region: upstate New York is more likely to enter the first phase after May 15 “with  certain precautions” while downstate—which includes New York City, Westchester, and Long Island—could take longer to reopen.

Phase one of reopening will include construction and manufacturing with low risk, Cuomo said.

Phase two will be more complex, Cuomo said, and rely on a matrix of which businesses are more essential and at a lower risk of infecting people.

A two-week waiting period—which is the virus’s incubation period—will happen between phases to monitor the effect of implementing each phase and the infection rate, Cuomo said.

Cuomo said reopening is dependent on a 14-day decline in the state and regional hospitalization rate, citing federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cuomo said downstate New York, which includes New York City, will need summer activities permitted for residents, a comment that appeared to push back against de Blasio’s idea to keep pools and beaches closed throughout the summer.

Crucial quote

“You can’t tell people in dense urban environments ‘We have nothing for you to do,’ there’s a sanity equation here,” Cuomo said.

What to watch for

What happens after May 15, which is the date New York’s stay-at-home orders expire. “We get to May 15, we assume we’ll see a decline in state for 14 days, but which regions are in decline for 14 days? That’s when you start the conversation to get to phase one in that region,” Cuomo said.

News peg

De Blasio came under criticism for saying public pools and summer camps will not be open for the season. “Keep expectations low for now,” de Blasio said April 16. Cuomo and de Blasio previously sparred over New York City school closures, after de Blasio announced the city’s public schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year⁠. Cuomo said that power to make the decision is his “legal authority” and stressed that school reopenings must be part of a regional plan.

Key background

Cuomo said that the state will be relying on businesses to do their own analysis of how risky it would be for them to reopen. Businesses will need to provide information about what precautions and safeguards they will put in place to protect workers. “A caveat,” Cuomo said, “is you can’t do anything in any region that would increase the number of visitors to that region.” If something is opened in Syracuse that would attract visitors from New Jersey, Connecticut or downstate New York, there are fears that the coronavirus infection rate could spike again. “Coordination [between states] is important,” Cuomo said.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/04/26/cuomo-details-plans-for-reopening-new-york-says-nyc-needs-summer-activities-open-for-residents/#707c5853296d