NY state to start reopening
New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the United States, plans to start reopening its economy in some upstate regions Friday, but New York City is unlikely to see nonessential business resume until June at the earliest.
“We’re now on the other side of the mountain,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his daily news briefing. “Next step, how do we reopen? How do we reopen intelligently? And how do we reopen without taking a step back?”
The number of deaths in the state dipped to 161 and the number of new coronavirus infections to 488 in the last 24 hours, levels last seen in March, he said. Cuomo’s statewide stay-at-home order ends Friday.
The governor has divided the state into 10 regions that need to hit seven criteria regarding infections and hospital capacity to enter Phase 1 of the reopening process, which includes curbside retail, construction and manufacturing. Later phases involve in-store retail, restaurants and schools. There will be a two-week monitoring period between phases, and if the pandemic shows signs of resurging in a region, the reopening will be paused until the outbreak is brought back under control.
Three regions currently qualify _ the Southern Tier west of the Catskills Mountains; the Mohawk Valley near Albany; and the Finger Lakes and Rochester.
Statewide, low-risk recreation and businesses such as tennis courts, landscaping and drive-in movie theaters, can reopen on Friday, Cuomo said. “Talk about going back to the future. Back to drive-in movie theaters. I’m OK with that.”
One region that is nowhere close to reopening is the New York City metropolitan area.
“Unless something miraculous happens, we’re going into June,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.
The state accounts for about a third of the more than 79,800 deaths nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University and state data.
Across the nation, elected leaders are weighing how to protect public health while starting are to loosen restrictions on individuals and businesses. Some, including local leaders in Pennsylvania and Michigan, are going against the orders of their states’ governors.
Americans have overwhelmingly supported enforcing stay-at-home orders and keeping businesses closed to stop the spread of coronavirus, but new polling shows the patience of some is beginning to drop.
Nearly 3 out of 4 respondents in a Gallup Poll released Monday said they are avoiding small gatherings, a 10-point drop from a poll a week prior. Another poll, by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, released Monday found that 71% support stay-at-home orders, down from 80% two weeks earlier. Just over two-thirds favored the shuttering of bars and restaurants, also down nine points from the prior poll.