Long Island News Post Published on May, 26th 2020, Written by Nick P.
Long Island Looks to Reopen on Wednesday!
NY Governor Cuomo has announced that Long Island is likely to reopen on Wednesday, as it has cleared all of the required benchmarks to do so. The daily Coronavirus death toll was 100 in New York but the trend is still showing a decrease in daily deaths.
This week Long Island has seen an average of 107 deaths per day which is down from an average of 800 deaths per day in April.
Long Island has been held up on hitting the death rate metric, although it has made significant progress in recent weeks. It now has met these criteria and has a sufficient number of contact tracers, therefore it can begin reopening.
Long Island Businesses are already preparing to reopen and hope to be able to hire some of the workers lost during the forced shutdown. Business owners are being tasked with preparing new procedures that will adhere to all safety guidelines put in place. A particular note made by Cuomo was that masks will be required on the Long Island Railroad, which will be cleaned and disinfected daily.
The Governor's administration is closely watching data in the regions that have begun Phase 1 of reopening in order to determine areas that are ready to move onto the second phase. Many regions began Phase 1 about a week ago, which is the average period of time the Governor said it would take to progress to the next phase.
When asked about the status over the weekend, Cuomo stated that “Two weeks in the rule of thumb”, but also stated that regions can progress much faster if they meet the given criteria. He also stated that he expects New York City to begin Phase 1 in the first couple weeks of June.
Hopefully, NY Governor Cuomo is correct and Long Island is able to enter the first phase on Wednesday. Phase 1 includes Construction, manufacturing, and wholesale supply chain, select retail with curbside pickup. Hopefully, we can quickly progress to the next phase which includes professional services, finance, and insurance, retail administrative support, real estate/rental leasing.
What Guidelines will Long Island Follow After Reopening?
Much of the same guidelines we currently have are expected to continue until further notice. The governor has now stated that up to 10 people can gather for non-essential purposes "provided that social distancing protocols and cleaning and disinfection protocols required by the Department of Health are adhered to."
This means that people will still need to maintain a distance of being 6 feet apart and wear a face mask covering when they cannot do so. This new order comes after Cuomoms previous order, which states that gatherings of 10 people were only permitted for Memorial Day Services.
Businesses will be crucial in the prevention of the second wave of this virus. Although everyone is ready to get back to earning money, the focus must be on preventing the spread of COVID-19 through Long Island Towns to ensure we can stay open.
What Are The Guidelines To Progress Through The Phases?
The state has put a benchmark system in place that will determine the safety of reopening different areas. The benchmark system will work alongside a four-phase system of reopening industries based on perceived risk and reward.
All of these benchmarks need to be met before progressing from one phase to the next as well.
Decline in New Hospitalizations: According to CDC guidelines, a region has to have at least 14 days of decline in total hospitalizations and deaths on a three day rolling average.
The Decline in Hospital Fatalities: Regions with few COVID-19 cases can not have 15 new cases or five deaths on a three-day rolling average.
Decline in New Hospitalizations: A region must have fewer than two new COVID-19 patients per 100,000 residents per day.
Hospital Bed Availability: Hospitals can’t be filled to more than 70% capacity – including ICU beds – leaving 30% available in the event of a surge.
Sufficient Staff Protection: All hospitals must have a 90-day stockpile of Personal Protection Equipment.
Sufficient Testing: There must be 30 tests per 1,000 residents ready to go.
Sufficient Contact Tracing Data: Regions must have 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 residents.
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Long Island News Post Published May 26th, 2020
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