Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that five regions – Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country and the Southern Tier – are on track to enter Phase IV of reopening on Friday. New York State issued guidance for Phase IV, which will allow low-risk indoor and outdoor arts and entertainment, film and TV production, higher education and professional sports without fans. Guidance for Phase IV of reopening is available here.
The governor also announced that in Phase IV of reopening, social gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed and indoor religious gatherings will be allowed at up to 33 percent of the indoor site’s capacity.
Long Island entered Phase III of reopening yesterday.
“Our approach has been vindicated and the phased reopening based on facts is working,” Governor Cuomo said. “I said from day one that the theory the virus should be handled politically can’t be done. The virus doesn’t respond to political theory – it responds to science and data. We’re going ahead with our metrics and our phased reopening, and five regions are set to enter Phase IV on Friday. The numbers continue trending in the right direction as we went from one of the highest infections rates to one of the lowest in the country, so we will also allow slightly larger social and religious gatherings, but people need to continue wearing masks, socially distancing and washing their hands frequently to stay safe.”
The governor also updated New Yorkers on the state’s progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available at forward.ny.gov.
Of the 51,144 tests conducted in New York State yesterday, 581 or 1.1 percent, were positive.
The Governor also confirmed 581 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 389,666 confirmed cases in New York State.
