Western NY gets back to biz today

Western New York is cleared to begin its coronavirus comeback, Gov. Cuomo said Monday, making it the sixth of the state’s 10 economic regions to get the green light.

As of the Monday press briefing, the region had technically only met six of the seven statistical metrics for reopening — measuring hospital admissions, deaths, available beds and testing capacity — but was poised to have enough contact tracers to clear the seventh hurdle by Tuesday.

“That means all the metrics will be hit and Western New York will open [Tuesday],” Cuomo told reporters in Buffalo, within the region. “It’s been a long, painful period, but we start to reopen [Tuesday].”

Five other regions had already been cleared last week to ease back into normalcy: Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country and the Southern Tier.

Those sectors can start by bringing back online low-risk businesses, such as construction, manufacturing, landscaping and curbside pick-up retail, as well as some equally safe leisure venues, including tennis courts and drive-in movie theaters.

The regions can eventually be cleared to restart other phases of life as well, provided that the metrics don’t indicate a resurgence of the coronavirus.

The Capital Region is the nextclosest to reopening, having met six of the seven administration criteria, also lacking only enough contact-tracing capacity.

Of the three remaining regions, Long Island has ticked five of the seven boxes, the Mid-Hudson region four, and New York City just three.

The governor made the announcement as another 106 New Yorkers succumbed to the virus in the 24-hour period ending at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

“Every day, the number of deaths is still painfully high,” said Cuomo, as the overall number of confirmed deaths rose to 22,729.

“But it is down.”