What to Know
- New York City will move to Phase II Monday, Mayor de Blasio said; up to 300k more people are expected to return to work. Long Island and the Mid-Hudson regions join the rest of the state in Phase III next week
- Phase II reopens outdoor dining, in-person retail, office-based jobs, hair salons, barbershops and more; NYC playgrounds will also reopen Monday, while team sports like basketball and football remain prohibited
- Starting Father's Day, New Jersey nursing homes, assisted living residences and other similar facilities can allow visitors in designated outdoor spaces, Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday
Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the final go ahead for New York City's entry into Phase II Monday during his final daily briefing on the pandemic after 111 straight news conferences since New York City announced its first confirmed case on March 1.
Cuomo said Thursday he had asked an international expert panel to review New York City's metrics before it takes the next step, as he has done with all other regions poised to transition to a new phase. But he said all signs pointed to the five boroughs getting the green light and told businesses to prepare accordingly.
Phase II allows for the reopening of outdoor dining at bars and restaurants, in-person retail, hair salons and barbershops (but not personal care services like nails or massages) and more office-based jobs, all at half capacity and with mandatory COVID safeguards in place like social distancing and facial coverings.
"It includes the single biggest piece of our economy. We're all in agreement this is the right thing to do," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "It's time to move forward."
The mayor said playgrounds will also open Monday as the city enters Phase II, but team sports like football and basketball remain prohibited. Asked about team sports Friday, de Blasio said he wants to first assess the potential impact of Phase I and the protests on infections, which should be clear in the coming days. Once playgrounds reopen, he'll monitor COVID rates again for any spikes.
"Let's get into Phase II, let's see if it's working, let's see what we learn from Phase I and at the right time we can make a decision on all sports facilities in common," the mayor said Friday. "Let's take it slow."
A day earlier, he outlined the heart of the city's Phase II plan -- the Open Restaurants initiative, which focuses on providing more temporary space to restaurants through curbside seating, sidewalks, open streets, pedestrian plazas and backyard/patio seating. See full details on that plan, which de Blasio said could save up to 5,000 restaurants and 45,000 jobs, here. The restaurant plan comes with a slate of rules, and repeat violators could lose their Open Restaurant authorizations.
Cuomo took enforcement a step further Thursday, signing an executive order empowering the state to shut down violators of local reopening guidelines and strip them of their liquor licenses. He also signed an executive order holding bars responsible for the sidewalk area in front of their businesses.
Up to 300,000 more people are expected to return to work when the five boroughs start Phase II, on top of the hundreds of thousands who did when it entered Phase I. The MTA has launched aggressive new safety measures and service enhancements to accommodate the increased volume. It will also install hand sanitizer in specially designed anti-theft “cages” at all 472 stations.
New York City is the state's only region still in Phase I. Long Island and Mid-Hudson regions are in Phase II but will take the step into Phase III, opening up indoor dining and personal care services, by the middle of next week. In Phase III, the cap on indoor gatherings rises to 25 from 10.
The Mid-Hudson region, which includes Westchester and Rockland counties, petitioned Cuomo to allow it to start Phase III Friday so it could have larger Father's Day gatherings this weekend. The governor has yet to respond, but considering his stance on standard rules for all regions, it's unlikely that he would oblige the request to shorten the two-week requirement between phases.
Daily Percentage of Positive Tests by New York Region
With all of New York state in some phase of reopening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is shifting his focus to monitoring test results on a daily basis across each region to identify potential hotspots before they emerge. Here's the latest tracking data by region. For the latest county-level results statewide, click here
The phased regional reopenings have not caused statistically significant spikes in infection thus far in New York, even as nearly half the nation's states grapple with new outbreaks. Many of those lack New York's robust reopening standards.
Cuomo said Thursday he's concerned about rising COVID rates in some states, like Florida, and that experts have advised him to impose a 14-day quarantine on travelers to New York from new viral hotspots. He said he's considering that but hasn't made a final decision. A number of states imposed such a quarantine on New York travelers in early spring as the virus ran rampant in the Empire State.
"Fast forward, now we're afraid they're bringing it to our state," Cuomo added.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a veiled shot at Florida Gov. DeSantis on Thursday, saying he might order Floridians into quarantine if they travel north. NBC New York's Checkey Beckford and Ida Siegal report.
On Thursday, the Empire State saw its lowest daily percent of positive tests (0.9 percent) since it started testing, though Cuomo said he is closely monitoring Central New York, where daily percent positives are rising. As of Thursday, that Phase III region's daily percentage of positive tests was up to 3 percent, notably higher than its 1 percent seven-day rolling average. The state has conducted more than 3 million COVID tests in the last three and a half months. Twelve percent of New Yorkers have tested positive, though the city's rate is higher.
Right now, the percentage of New York City residents testing positive over a seven-day rolling average is just 1 percent. That's a far cry from the 59 percent it experienced at the peak of the crisis earlier this spring. Statewide, that seven-day rolling average is also 1 percent.
The five boroughs are still adding a few hundred new COVID cases daily, but considering 30,000 or more are being tested each day that's not unmanageable. Even Brooklyn and Queens, the two deadliest COVID counties in America, are seeing percent daily positive tests well below 2 percent.
New Jersey now ranks 36th among U.S. states as far as new cases per 100,000 residents, but it has struggled on other key metrics, ranking third and fifth, respectively, in new daily deaths and total hospitalizations per 100,000 residents.
Starting next week, Gov. Phil Murphy said New Jersey would add probable COVID deaths to its overall toll, as New York City has done. He says that change will increase the state's overall toll, which stands at 12,835, "significantly."
All these are reasons to remain vigilant, Murphy says, as the state prepares to take its next step Monday, reopening beauty salons, tattoo and massage parlors and more personal care services, along with non-contact team sports.
Starting Father's Day, nursing homes, assisted living residences, dementia care homes, pediatric transitional care homes and comprehensive personal care homes can allow visitors in designated outdoor spaces, Murphy said Friday.
The governor also set a date for this week for the long-awaited reopening of indoor shopping malls. Those can return June 29 with restrictions. Food courts, common seating areas, theaters and arcades remain closed.
All of that has reopened in Connecticut as of this week. The least hard-hit of the tri-states amid the COVID outbreak, the Constitution State has been the most aggressive of the three on reopening. All that remains shut down in Connecticut are schools, summer camps, state campgrounds, the DMV and bars.
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