Governor Cuomo held his daily briefing from Upstate University Hospital Thursday afternoon and announced a fifth region in New York has met all requirements to start reopening Friday, May 15.

The Central New York region, including Cortland, Cayuga, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties, will start the phased reopening tomorrow. Until today, Central New York was just short of the requirements, only missing the requirement for the amount of testing.

NBC News via Youtube
NBC News via Youtube
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Phase one businesses include:
Construction
Manufacturing
Wholesale Trade
Select Retail for curbside pickup only
Agriculture
Forestry
Fishing
Drive In movie theaters
Outdoor low risk recreational activities like tennis & golf
Landscaping, gardening
Cuomo announced Monday that the Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes, and Southern Tier had met all seven requirements, and on Wednesday, the North Country joined the list.

"A big responsibility is now going to fall to local government to manage this situation, and my advice to local governments are, in terms of priority, daily monitoring of numbers, daily monitoring of numbers, and daily monitoring of numbers," Cuomo said. "[Those] are the first three priorities. Know the facts, know what you're dealing with."

Cuomo also added that local governments should ensure that businesses and individuals comply with the phased reopening and social distancing standards. While many New York regions are beginning the phased reopening tomorrow, Cuomo said we should continue to reimagine education, tele-commuting, tele-medicine, public transportation, and public health.

"We should never again be in the position where we don't have medical equipment, where we're facing a pandemic, we're facing a major public health issue, and we don't even have basic equipement for nurses and doctors?" Cuomo said. "And so much of it came from China? And governors such as myself are trying to figure out who do we know in China to get masks for nurses in our hospitals? I mean, it was terrible what we went through. I want to make sure we in New York are leading the way."

Cases of a COVID-related illness in children have risen to 110, Cuomo said, with cases popping up in 16 other states and six European countries. The governor urged parents to watch for symptoms in their own children, which include prolonged fever, severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, bloodshot eyes, skin rash. Less prominent symptoms include change in skin color, difficulty feeding, trouble breathing, quick breathing, racing heart, chest pain, lethargy, irritability and confusion.

Cuomo said 157 New Yorkers lost their lives to coronavirus on May 13.

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