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AMID ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES FIFTH REGION HITS BENCHMARK TO BEGIN REOPENING MAY 15TH

Central New York Joins North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley Regions, Which Have Met the Seven Metrics Required to Begin Reopening After NYS on Pause Orders Expire on May 15th

Business Guidance for Phase One of the State’s Reopening Plan is Available Here

Initial $3 Million in Grants Available to Businesses to Manufacture Emergency Medical Supplies and Equipment

Announces President Trump has Expedited $3.9 Billion in Funding for the MTA at the Request of the Governor

Confirms 2,390 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State – Bringing Statewide Total to 343,051; New Cases in 45 Counties

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that as of today, Central New York has met all seven metrics required to begin phase one of the state’s regional phased reopening plan when NYS on PAUSE orders expire on May 15th, joining the North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley Regions.

If the trend continues, these five regions can begin opening businesses for phase one, which includes construction; manufacturing and wholesale supply chain; retail for curbside pickup and drop-off or in-store pickup; and agriculture, forestry and fishing. Business guidance for phase one of the state’s reopening plan is available here. A guide to the state’s “NY Forward Reopening” Plan is available here. The state’s regional monitoring dashboard is available here.

The Governor also announced an initial $3 million in grants are available to businesses to manufacture emergency medical supplies and equipment. Companies interested in growing or starting a medical supply business should go to www.esd.ny.gov.

Governor Cuomo also announced that President Trump has expedited $3.9 billion in funding for the MTA at the request of the Governor.

“All the arrows are pointed in the right direction and now the question becomes focused on reopening – people have to get back to work and the state needs an economy – but we have to make sure we don’t reopen too soon,” Governor Cuomo said. “We are doing this in a calibrated way and monitoring the data, facts and metrics every single day and using the lessons we’ve learned from others who have already gone through this. And right now, based on our criteria we have five regions that are poised to reopen beginning tomorrow, and as they start to reopen certain businesses we will continue to monitor the level of activity and make sure it doesn’t create a second wave of this virus.”

Finally, the Governor confirmed 2,390 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 343,051 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 343,051 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows (MIDHUDSON REGION COUNTIES IN BOLD FACE):

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	1,509	15
Allegany	44	0
Broome	383	1
Cattaraugus	64	3
Cayuga	60	0
Chautauqua	44	1
Chemung	132	0
Chenango	112	0
Clinton	81	3
Columbia	327	9
Cortland	33	2
Delaware	67	1
Dutchess	3,474	45
Erie	4,671	65
Essex	32	0
Franklin	17	0
Fulton	144	4
Genesee	175	1
Greene	207	1
Hamilton	5	0
Herkimer	86	2
Jefferson	69	1
Lewis	12	1
Livingston	106	3
Madison	255	2
Monroe	2,019	60
Montgomery	69	1
Nassau	38,743	156
Niagara	710	20
NYC	188,545	1,295
Oneida	698	12
Onondaga	1,423	28
Ontario	129	20
Orange	9,771	78
Orleans	145	3
Oswego	78	2
Otsego	67	0
Putnam	1,115	7
Rensselaer	423	3
Rockland	12,596	53
Saratoga	415	5
Schenectady	597	10
Schoharie	47	0
Schuyler	8	0
Seneca	49	0
St. Lawrence	192	0
Steuben	230	0
Suffolk	37,544	239
Sullivan	1,168	33
Tioga	108	0
Tompkins	136	0
Ulster	1,495	14
Warren	227	4
Washington	215	1
Wayne	89	5
Westchester	31,792	181
Wyoming	77	0
Yates	22	0