At his daily press briefing, Governor Cuomo says all major indicators continue to trend downward.

There were still 1,000 new COVID hospitalizations in the last 24 hours, but the number has been steadily improving.

There were 367 deaths statewide yesterday, which is significantly lower than the daily totals have been. Cuomo credited people for following social distancing protocols, as New York remains “On Pause” through May 15th.

Reopening could begin right after that date, and will be done in two phases. The first phase will allow construction and manufacturing businesses to reopen. Phase two will be other non-essential businesses, but it remains to be seen which ones.

 

 

 

Large companies will have to come up with plans to keep workers safely distanced from one another.

“If you reopen that business, how much risk are you possibly incurring? That matrix of questions will guide us into phase II,” the governor said.

Cuomo says the state will take two weeks between phases and there will be no attractions or openings that will draw crowds from other areas. And there will be summer activities for City children. 

“You can’t tell people in a dense urban environment, we don’t have anything for you to do, stay in your apartment with your three kids,” the Governor said. 

The Governor also announced that the L train subway tunnel is opening today. The project ended up being under budget and was completed on a shorter timeframe than originally predicted.

Cuomo made the controversial decision not to shut down the tunnel, and instead do the repairs with only a partial shutdown.

 

 

 

Tomorrow, the state board of elections will meet to determine whether to cancel New York’s Presidential primary on June 23rd. Bernie sanders suspended his campaign earlier this month, making Joe Biden the de facto winner. Cuomo said he has no opinion on whether the primary should be cancelled and it’s “up to the vote of elections” to make that decision.