As a first phase in reopening New York's economy once the current shutdown expires on May 15, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday it may be safe for some construction and manufacturing companies outside of New York City to resume operations at that time, The Hill reported.
Other businesses would reopen in a second phase based on an evaluation of how essential they are and the risk their doing so would pose to the public.
Cuomo emphasized, however, at a press conference that "On many of these things, I'm not comfortable getting too far ahead of ourselves," adding that a more expansive reopening of the southern part of the state would be "problematic" and would require coordination with officials from New Jersey and Connecticut.
His announcement came as the death toll in the state on Saturday dropped to 367, the first time this month it has been below 400, while the number of new hospitalizations decreased to just above 1,000, CBS News reported.
The governor stressed that such a number "would normally be terrible news. It's only not terrible news compared to where we were."
Cuomo also said requiring people to stay in place through the entire summer, especially in large cities, is not a very realistic option, emphasizing that "There's a sanity equation here, also, that we have to take into consideration."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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