There has been increased pressure on the Mayor and Governor to reopen down state New York after the upstate regions have reopened and the virus numb ears have fallen…
The Governor has had to change some of qualifying metrics for the more populated down state area’s to reopen.
Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties the Governor points to June 1st…
New York City shortly afterwards according to NYC Mayor de Blasio….
Long Island and the suburban counties north of New York City could begin reopening next week if the number of virus-related deaths continued to decline and local officials set up strong contract-tracing programs, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Friday.
Anticipating the trends would hold, Mr. Cuomo said that construction staging could resume next week in both Long Island and the Mid-Hudson region, which includes Westchester and Rockland counties.
As of Friday, all of the state’s 10 economic regions had started the reopening process except for New York City and the two suburban regions, which have yet to meet the seven criteria required by state officials to start easing restrictions on businesses.
Both Mr. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have said that New York City was unlikely to begin reopening until June. The city has met four of the seven required metrics, as outlined on a dashboard charting each region’s progress toward meeting the standards.
New York City still needs to have at least 30 percent of its hospital beds and at least 30 percent of its intensive-care-unit beds available before the state will allow it to reopen. As of Friday morning, it had 27 percent of hospital beds and 26 percent of its ICU beds available.
Mr. de Blasio has also pegged the city’s path to reopening on three metrics: the number of new hospital admissions for illness resembling Covid-19, the number of patients in critical care and the percentage of positive coronavirus tests.
Mr. de Blasio said Friday that the city will not reopen until it sees a 10-to-14 day period with under 200 daily hospitalizations of suspected Covid-19 patients, fewer than 375 patients in intensive-care units in the city’s public hospital system, and fewer than 15 percent of city residents testing positive for the virus.
Though New York has met the thresholds for hospital admissions and positive tests, the number of those in intensive-care units was still too high, at 451 patients, Mr. de Blasio said.
Both city and state officials have said that their metrics were likely to go hand in hand, and that they would coordinate in their decisions on reopening. But on Friday, Mr. Cuomo suggested that the state’s guidelines took precedence.
“It’s not up to the local officials,” Mr. Cuomo said of reopening. “It’s a statewide decision across the board.”….
Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey said on Friday that the state would allow outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people and let campgrounds reopen.
“I’m proud we are able to take this step today and add a little more hope and optimism to the start of summer,” Mr. Murphy said.
Social distancing would still be required at outdoor gatherings, which had been limited to 10 people, and at campgrounds. Face coverings are not required outside, but state officials recommend them.
“If you were looking forward to gathering with your neighbors for a Memorial Day cookout, you may do so,” Mr. Murphy said, “so long as social distancing and personal responsibility remain the order of the day.”
Outdoor dining at restaurants remains forbidden in New Jersey, though Connecticut began allowing it on Wednesday; indoor gatherings are still limited to 10 people, Mr. Murphy said…
Note….
So much for New York and Long Island being ‘closed’….
At least 671 LI companies received waivers to open as essential businesses
State records show at least 671 waivers have been issued to Long Island businesses in March and April deeming them “essential” and allowing them to operate while most of the state’s economy has been shut down under Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive order to combat spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The companies granted waivers varied widely, according to records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law. They include everything from construction firms to job-placement services to vaping shops to pet groomers.
Waivers were sought by more than 23,000 individual companies statewide. Each time a group of lawyers at the Empire State Development Corp., the state economic development agency, determined a company was essential, the decision applied to all companies in the same line of business. All of the companies also had to adhere to social distancing requirements tailored to their operation to try to avoid spread of the virus, state officials said…