Pools and beaches set to reopen
State gives them go-ahead for Memorial Day weekend with social distancing rules
State-run pools and beaches can open with social distancing rules in place over Memorial Day weekend, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday. His goal is for them to reach full capacity by the Fourth of July.
Private pools and beaches, and those run by local governments, opened last year under guidelines set by the state health department.
Cuomo delivered his Wednesday COVID -19 briefing in Buffalo and reported that the rate of coronavirus infections continues to decline, with a rate of 1.1 percent during the most recent 24-hour period. The Capital Region seven-day average is slightly higher, coming in at 1.42 percent. More than half of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated, he added, while 60 percent of adults have received at least one shot.
Cuomo has said he has avoided picking dates for the removal of all COVID -19 restrictions because the future spread of the virus is too difficult to forecast, but he said based on the current month-long trend of declining numbers, he expects pools and beaches to be able to host full capacity crowds by July 4.
The Toronto Blue Jays, who will be playing their home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo starting June 1, will host half their fans in full-capacity vaccinated sections and half in limited-capacity unvaccinated sections, Cuomo said. He said stadiums and other businesses may decide to reserve increasing portions of their seating for vaccinated people in order to make more money, creating a greater incentive for people to get vaccinated.
The Blue Jays will be vaccinating fans on site, he said, and fans will then receive free tickets in the summer of 2022 to a Buffalo Bisons game, the minor league team that calls Sahlen field home in normal years.