Long Island News Post Published on April, 29th 2020
| Written by Nick P
When will Long Island Reopen?
Since the New York Pause was extended to May 15th, Many people are starting to get anxious about when the local economy is going to be reopened. Many small business owners are suffering because not only can they not work, they do not know when they will be able to reopen their business.
The NYS Government has addressed these concerns with shallow answers about a 2 Phase program that will enable businesses to reopen in a safe manner. However, the most vital information that people want to know has been left out: When?
Start of NYS Phase 1
NY Govenor Cuomo announced that beginning May 15th, select areas of the state can begin to “unpause”. This will only apply to regions that see total hospitalizations from the coronavirus decline for 14 consecutive days.
Due to these comments from the Governor, many people are assuming he is talking about regions in upstate New York that are less concentrated, therefore having a lower risk to spread the disease.
Because these guidelines rely on medical data, it will be almost impossible for people to know when to expect their region of the state to reopen.
What's After NYS Phase 1
Once a region of the state is officially in “Phase 1”, there will be a 2 week monitoring period on the effects of reopening the area before they can progress to “Phase 2”.
Phase two will be slightly different than phase one, as it will be conducted on a “business by business” analysis. The analysis will be done using a model to project how essential the business is and the risks associating with the business at that time.
TAKE NOTE: Once again, these answers are not encouraging to small business owners who would love to hear a definitive date on when they can go back to work so they can plan accordingly.
The comments made by just how essential business is has made many small business owners, especially in certain industries feel uneasy. Many hairdressers, barbers, and tattoo artists are scratching their heads as to how someone else can tell them their passion is “nonessential” therefore they are not able to work.
Long Island Restaurant and Long Island Bars may not be making a comeback for quite some time, as it seems they were some of the first businesses to be mandated to close. This means they may be the last to re-open. If they do reopen, look for strict limits on how many people will be able to be seated at tables or allowed into bars at the same time.
How To Re-Open Your Long Island Business After Coronavirus
The people of Long Island are itching to just get things back to normal, not a new normal. However, it seems like a temporary (and hopefully brief) period of new normal is going to be necessary to bring reality back.
NY Governor Cuomo has announced that during Phase 1 and 2 of the reopening that every business is going to have to implement new safety procedures to protect the health of both customers and employees.
At the minimum, we can expect to see the social distancing precautions that many businesses have been currently following. Procedures include wearing a mask in public stores, keeping 6 feet apart from other people, and things such as glass screens to act as a barrier during transactions.
The most important thing to do when preparing to reopen your business is to make both your employees and customers feel safe. It seems as if most people only get worried about the coronavirus after making a trip out in public and seeing others worried about the corona virus, which radiates onto them.
What Does This Mean For Long Island?
As Long Island Towns are more densely populated than other areas of the state, the future remains uncertain. It seems as many people are ready to get back to normal, regardless of the status of the Coronavirus.
Many people who live on Long Island are waiting to return to their jobs in New York City, which was a hotspot of the Coronavirus outbreak and will certainly be closely monitored when it reopens.
Because many Long Islanders work in New York City, the risk of an outbreak spreading to the island is substantial. As a safe metric, we can expect Long Island to reopen around the same time or slightly before when the state declares New York City safe to reopen.
Although we wish we had a definitive answer to give Long Islanders about when we will be able to return to our normal life, we can safely say we have earned the title Strong Island after handling this pandemic the way we have.
FOLLOW: Long Island Hub's Instagram!
Long Island News Post Published April 29th, 2020
| Written by Nick P.
Other Long Island Hub Members Viewed These:
- Long Island Coronavirus Cases By Town
- Subscribe to our Newsletter for Free Updates!
Scroll Back Up