New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said recent CCP virus data has shown “remarkable progress” and that the current shutdown measures in place could be eased as early as June 1 this year.
“All roads are leading to the first half of June,” de Blasio said during his daily virus press briefing. “Somewhere between June 1 and June 15.”
“The City indicators, the State indicators, we’re seeing very clear progress; we have to sustain the progress,” he added.
To be able to re-open, regions in New York State must reach seven benchmarks relating to the virus. Among this list includes a 14-day drop in hospitalizations to having “at least 30 percent of their hospital beds available.”
As of this writing, seven out of 10 inter-country regions in the state have already started reopening. The three areas that have not met these metrics include Long Island, Mid-Hudson, and New York City. These areas have reached about 4 or 5 of the seven required benchmarks.
In New York City there have been a total of 192,840 cases of the CCP virus and 15,423 deaths, according to May 21 government data. There have also been 50,770 people hospitalized.
In one positive reopening sign, the mayor announced on May 21 that from now on, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Staten Island Ferry will return to 30-minute service frequency during the morning (5:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.) and evening (3:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) rush hours.
In a statement, de Blasio said the Staten Island Ferry “keeps this city running” and that it would help “essential workers fight this crisis on the front lines.”
The June reopening date is based on “everything we know today,” de Blasio said, acknowledging that “this disease has thrown us a lot of curve balls.”
But he said that the reasoning behind their decision is based on solid data.
According to de Blasio, in the last 10 days the number of people testing positive citywide has all been “below 15 percent.”
“We’ve gotten down below 15 percent for 10 days and stayed there consistently,” he said. “So, again, this is remarkable progress.
“We’re basing it on the trend, which has been pretty damn consistent.”
New York City will start to move into its phase one reopening plan during the first week of June or the second week of June, according to the mayor.
Under government guidelines, phase one in New York involves reopening a number of key industries including construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, retail (Limited to curbside or in-store pickup or drop off), manufacturing, and wholesale trade.
There are a total of four phases of reopening that include reopening up restaurants, food services, and entertainment industries later on.
De Blasio added that their reopening plan could start “possibly with some modifications for the reality in New York City.”
