This archive report was first published on 5 May 2020.
Cuomo's N.Y. Reopening Plan: 10 Regions, 4 Phases, Many Caveats ¶
On May 4, 2020, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo presented a soft blueprint for restarting the state's economy, outlining a set of criteria that will determine which regions allow what sectors to reopen and when.
The plan, which was announced in Monroe County, where the coronavirus has killed more than 100 people, includes four phases. The first phase, which will begin after May 15, will allow construction, manufacturing, and some retail stores to reopen for curbside pickup.
According to Cuomo, the entire state will remain locked down until May 15, when his stay-at-home order is scheduled to expire. New York City and its suburbs, which are still besieged by the virus, may be the last places to start returning to some semblance of normal.
“This is not a sustainable situation,” Cuomo said. “Close down everything, close down the economy, lock yourself in the home. You can do it for a short period of time, but you can’t do it forever.”
The plan relies heavily on progress in key areas, including declines in new positive virus cases and deaths, and increases in testing, hospital capacity, and contact tracing. Each region will have to satisfy seven specific criteria before businesses and services can open again.
The criteria include net hospitalizations for cases of Covid-19, a 14-day decline in virus-related hospital deaths, a three-day rate of new hospitalizations below two per 100,000 residents a day, a hospital-bed vacancy rate of at least 30 percent, an availability rate of at least 30 percent for intensive care unit beds, a weekly average of 30 virus tests per 1,000 residents a month, and at least 30 working contact tracers per 100,000 residents.
The urge to reopen the state comes as New York's budget is under immense pressure, with the state's coffers being drained by the cost of the outbreak and a precipitous fall in various types of tax revenue.
