NEW YORK (WBEN) - The question on when to reopen New York has been on the minds of residents and politicians since the Covid-19 pandemic began. When is it safe to reopen? Should it be done in phases? How do you balance the economy versus the virus' spread?
On Monday morning at his daily press briefing, Governor Cuomo answered some of those questions.
"Rather than starting and stopping, you'd rather have a controlled start so you don't have to stop, right?" he began. "That's what you learn from the other countries - if you reopen too fast, then you have to stop.
"First of all, it's not going to happen statewide," Cuomo continued. "This state has different regions which are in much different situations than other regions in the state, and rather than wait for the whole state to be ready, reopen on a regional basis."
There is a long list of of criteria regions will be required to follow before having the ability to reopen when the pause order ends on May 15. As of Monday, no region meets all of the necessary criteria.
Some regions of New York are closer to reopening than others.Currently, no region meets all the requirements necessary to reopen safely and securely.There is a lot of work to do. pic.twitter.com/OWaKHUeUUa
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 4, 2020Another talking point in the press conference concerned businesses and which make the most sense to open first.
"You open businesses first that are most essential and pose the lowest risk," said Cuomo.
In Phase I, Cuomo pointed to construction, manufacturing and select retail services as the businesses that best fit that description. The second phase would include professional services, retail, administrative support and real estate. Phase III includes restaurants and other food services, and the final phase includes arts, entertainment, recreation and education.
"This can't just be, 'We want to get out of the house,'" said Cuomo. "No, let's be smart; let's be intelligent; let's learn from the past - let's do it based on facts."
