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5 regions in restart Phase 3
Five upstate New York regions will enter phase three of the coronavirus reopening process just in time for the weekend, Gov. Cuomo announced Thursday, allowing restaurants to offer indoor service again and giving the green light to nail salons, spas and tattoo parlors as well.
But the governor, speaking during a briefing from Albany, stressed that business owners must exercise extreme caution as they start opening their doors on Friday — or the consequences can be disastrous.
“Everything we’ve done has been exactly right up until now, but that is up until now,” Cuomo said. “You can make a mistake today that wipes out everything we’ve done. So we have to be smart.”
“COVID-19,” the governor added, “is still out there.”
The regions that will enter phase three Friday are North Country, Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley, Central New York and the Finger Lakes.
Phase three allows restaurants to host patrons inside, though an establishment’s capacity cannot exceed 50% and 6 feet of social distancing must be maintained at all times. Patrons and workers are also required to wear face coverings at all times, except when seated.
The same precautions go for personal care services like nail salons, spas and tattoo shops.
In addition, any personal care services that require patrons to remove their masks are prohibited, such as facial piercings and massages.
Business owners who skirt the restrictions could face serious consequences, Cuomo warned.
“You can lose your liquor licenses,” he said. “You can lose your right to operate.”
Adding to the phase three announcement, Cuomo said he’s allowing local municipalities to reopen public swimming pools and playgrounds at their own discretion, as the state’s coronavirus metrics continued to trend in the right direction. Thirty-six New Yorkers died from the virus Wednesday, marking one of the lowest daily tolls since the pandemic started in March. Net hospitalizations continue to go down as well, and more than 50,000 coronavirus tests are performed daily across the state, Cuomo said.
However, Cuomo warned that New York could see spikes in coronavirus cases as the reopening process speeds up.
Some states that reopened quickly, like Texas and Arizona, experienced COVID-19 surges, even though they’re largely rural.
“We have the density, we have the crowding. You start to see an increase, it is going to take off,” the governor said.
A final point of anxiety is the mass protests that have erupted across New York in light of the police killing of George Floyd, Cuomo said.
“We are still not sure what the effect of the protests is,” he said. “We made testing available for protesters, but that may not show up for a couple of weeks, so caution the people that they have to do their part. Be smart. It is all up to you.”
New York City took its first steps towards reopening this week.