Well he wasn’t lying.
True to his word, Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended his stay-at-home order to May 28 for parts of New York heavily hit by the novel coronavirus, which mostly includes downstate and Western New York.
Cuomo signed the executive order late Thursday night — this is the third time the lockdown has been pushed back since he enacted it on March 22. The state’s emergency declaration was also pushed to June 13.
As of May 15, when New York State on Pause was suppose to expire, the governor allowed five regions to begin the reopening process under his New York Forward plan. Those areas include the Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley, the North Country, and Central New York.
Long Island — and the other closed New York areas — could open before May 28 if certain criteria is met.
To reopen, each part of New York must meet and maintain seven specific metrics laid out by the state:
- Show a 14-day decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations
- Show a 14-day decline in COVID-19 deaths
- Must experience fewer than two new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents
- Regions must have at least 30% of its hospital beds available
- Regions must have at least 30% of its ICU beds available
- COVID-19 testing over a seven days must be suffient to 30 tests per 1,000 residents
- Contract tracing capacity must meet the standards of the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Vital Strategies.
So far, Long Island has met 4-of-7 of these marks, falling short on deaths, new hospitalizations, and total available hospitals beds. You can keep track of this data here.
Once meeting these guidelines, here’s the breakdown of the industries that will be allowed to open under Cuomo’s multi-phase reopening plan:
from the state’s website
Phase One: Starting May 15 Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country and Southern Tier are allowed to reopen
- Construction
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
- Retail – (Limited to curbside or in-store pickup or drop off)
- Manufacturing
- Wholesale Trade
Phase Two: Not Open
- Professional Services
- Retail
- Administrative Support
- Real Estate / Rental & Leasing
Phase Three: Not Open
- Restaurants / Food Services
Phase Four: Not Open
- Arts / Entertainment / Recreation
- Education
Editor’s Note: The story was updated for better clarification.
