De Blasio Announces New York Quarantine Ease: Cuomo Against

As of May 29, 90% of New York State (9 out of 10 regions) have already begun to ease quarantine restrictions. Only the city of New York itself remains completely closed.

State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a system of seven indicators that decide on the transition of areas of New York to the gradual lifting of quarantine:

• A decrease in the number of hospital admissions due to coronavirus within 14 days or less than 15 new hospital admissions per day over a three-day period.
• Reduced mortality from COVID-19 within 14 days or less than five deaths on average per day over a three-day period.
• The frequency of new hospitalizations is below 2 per 100 inhabitants (average for 000 days).
• At least 30% of the total number of hospital beds in the region will not be occupied.
• At least 30% of hospital beds in intensive care units will be free.
• Conducting a minimum of 30 tests for every 1000 inhabitants per month.
• In the region, at least 30 specialists continue to work to track the contacts of coronavirus vectors for every 100 thousand inhabitants.

Of the seven requirements, New York fulfilled four: the level of hospitalizations and mortality, the proportion of new hospitalizations and testing (criteria No. 1, 2, 3 and 6 in the list above).

There are three outstanding requirements. Of the required free 30% hospital beds, so far in New York, only 26%, and of the mandatory free 30% hospital beds in intensive care units, is still 29%. The requirement that at least 30 specialists work in the region to track the contacts of coronavirus vectors for every 100 thousand inhabitants is still at the implementation stage.

Despite this, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city will begin to open in the first weeks of June, writes NPR.

De Blasio expects some 400 New Yorkers to return to work in the first half of June as the city prepares to begin lifting some of its most stringent restrictions.

“Since we are in great obscurity (we have never had such a pandemic in the last hundred years), we can only give an approximate range of the number of people who will return to work,” said de Blasio. "Therefore, we want to make sure everything is done correctly, safety is the first priority."

The mayor believes that the city will not need much time to complete all the points. As part of the first wave of lifting restrictions, the four main sectors of the city’s economy will be able to return to work, de Blasio said: construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, which are currently considered insignificant.

On the subject: In New York, quarantine is removed, but restaurants will not open soon: we explain why so

“These are the sectors in which the personal presence of people is required. But they were also chosen because they are sectors where social distancing can be maintained, ”he said, noting that the rules of social distancing will remain in place.

Megabus resumes plying transport

Starting June 1, Megabus will resume servicing budget buses between New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington (DC), writes New York Post.

But Megabus requires passengers to wear face masks. The company also said that they would limit the bus capacity in order to maintain social distance.

Cuomo disagrees with the discovery

The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, said that the city did not reach the thresholds necessary to begin the first phase of the opening, writes timesunion.

“There are no other rules. I want to say with complete confidence to every New Yorker: I believe that it is safe for my children, and I believe that it is safe for your children, ”the governor explained. "We don't change the safety rules depending on the location."

“I'm not going to open any region if I don't consider it safe,” Cuomo said at a press conference the same day de Blasio announced the upcoming opening.