With the New York State on PAUSE executive order now set to expire on May 15, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo outlined a regional, phased plan to reopen parts of New York State “at the appropriate time” on Sunday, with construction and manufacturing businesses in areas that have experienced a 14-day decline in the hospitalization rate first to resume operation. So far, Suffolk County does not fit that criterion.
“I will extend them in many parts of the state,” the governor said on Monday of the statewide PAUSE regulations, “but in some parts of the state, in some regions, you could make the case that we should un-PAUSE on May 15.” On Tuesday, he said that any relaxation of the PAUSE order cannot happen if a region’s hospitals surpass 70 percent of their capacity or its transmission rate surpasses 1.1.
A second phase of the governor’s plan outlines a reopening of industries “based on priority and risk level,” priority given to businesses considered “more essential” and with inherent low risk of Covid-19 infection to employees and customers. Those will be followed by businesses considered “less essential” or those presenting a higher risk of infection.
A two-week waiting period will separate each phase, during which effects of the resumption of activity will be monitored to ensure that infections and hospitalizations do not increase as a result.
On the South Fork and across Long Island, a resumption of activity is unlikely to occur on the same schedule as upstate regions. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said on Tuesday that the county is “getting closer” to meeting the governor’s guidelines, but added that “whatever we’re doing, does it make sense in terms of protecting public health and restarting the economy?” The former will outweigh the latter, he said.
In East Hampton, where Saturday’s warm weather drew crowds to beaches, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc is participating in a countywide working group charged with developing regional guidelines and recommendations for the potential operation of beaches and related facilities this summer. Another newly formed committee comprising local businesspeople will help advise the town board, he said on Tuesday, “the idea being that we need to reopen in a way that protects public health and also brings business back to life here.”
But, Mr. Van Scoyoc cautioned, “we have to be very careful that we don’t end up with a situation where there’s a resurgence which would be worse than the first round” of Covid-19 infection. “I don’t think anybody wants to go backward at this point.”
Still, the governor’s remarks this week offered the most tangible, albeit conditional, signs of a coming “new normal” as the wave of infections is declining. “We want to reopen,” he said on Tuesday, “but we want to do it without infecting more people, or overwhelming the hospital system.”
Businesses and industries will devise new measures to protect employees and customers, the governor said in Sunday’s announcement. “The physical workplace will have to be reimagined to be safer, and businesses must implement processes that lower the risk of infection. The state is consulting with local leaders in each region and industry to formulate these plans.”
“We have to coordinate as a region,” rather than as individual counties, he said on Monday, “so everybody in that region has to have the same policy when it comes to schools, transportation, tests, tracing. That region’s plan has to fit in our overall multistate plan.” He also emphasized the importance of multistate coordination, “especially in downstate New York, where the outbreak has been more severe.” New York “will work with neighboring states to ensure safe and consistent policies.”
Regions must implement a testing regimen that prioritizes symptomatic people and those who came into contact with a known Codiv-19-infected person. Frontline and essential workers must be tested frequently.
The governor reiterated the importance of monitoring statistics and other indicators of public health on Monday. “Know what you are doing before you do it. Those are words to live by,” he said, exhorting county and municipal officials to “start thinking through what it means to reopen.”
“We all have to be smart about it,” he said. “If you are not smart, you will see that infection rate go right back to where it was,” nearly two months ago.
On Sunday, the number of people hospitalized statewide had fallen to 13,839, “returning to the level of March 31,” the governor said. “This is a positive trend, but it is still far higher than we would like to see.” Total hospitalizations in the state fell to 12,819 on Monday, and 12,646 on Tuesday. On Tuesday, there were 953 new hospitalizations, down from 1,052 the day before.
Three hundred sixty-seven New Yorkers died as a result of Covid-19 infection on Saturday, he said, 70 fewer than the day before. On Monday he announced another 337 coronavirus-related deaths and on Tuesday said that 335 had died, each representing fewer than half the daily total at the pandemic’s peak in the state.
The governor spoke of “regional control rooms” on Monday, an oversight entity that will monitor data during the reopening, including hospital capacity, rate of infection, and the burn rate of personal protective equipment, as well as monitor reopened businesses. “We’re going to turn a valve on reopening, start to reopen, and then you watch the dials,” he said. “Those dials will give you the fourth dial,” the rate of transmission. “Turn the valve a little bit for a region, watch those other gauges very carefully every day, see what’s happening on those,” he said. “You can either close the valve, open it more, or leave it where it is. When I talk about a regional control room, that’s what I’m talking about: getting that data to one central place, where everybody agrees on the numbers and the next step.”
Regional officials must consider the possibility of a second wave of infections occurring during the seasonal impact of influenza, which typically begins in September. “Do we have testing in place?” he asked of regional officials. “Do we have a tracing system in place? We all talk about testing, tracing, isolation — that has to be in place.” Where infected people will be isolated must also be determined, he said. If they are at home, others in the household are at risk of infection. Facilities at which to isolate the infected, such as hotels, must be identified and secured, he said.
Officials must be mindful of “pent-up demand” to get out and recreate, the governor said, echoing Mr. Van Scoyoc’s recent remarks about arrivals to East Hampton from away. “We cannot open an attraction that might bring many people from outside the region and overwhelm people in that region . . . because they’re looking for something to do.”