At last we checked in, the only thing holding up the Capital Region, in terms of beginning its phased reopening, was its number of contact tracers. That number has now been met, and we can begin our phased reopening tomorrow (May 20).
That’s according to the Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, who noted during his May 19 press briefing that the Capital Region had been asked to find 383 contact tracers (technically, we only needed 166 as of this weekend), and the region had come through with 430. The contact tracers will be trained today, so that the Capital Region can begin its phased reopening on May 20 (tomorrow).
That also means that, for those industries now allowed to begin work again, the May 28 work-from-home order has been nullified. As a reminder, the phased reopening will look like this: phase one will include reopening of construction, manufacturing and wholesale supply chain, retail (curbside pickup) and agriculture, forestry and fishing; phase two, professional services, finance and insurance, retail, administrative support, and real estate and rental leasing; phase three, restaurants and food services, and hotels and accommodations; and phase four, arts, entertainment and recreation, and education.
Cuomo also announced that, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday this weekend, ceremonies would be allowed with 10 people or less to commemorate the day, at a local government’s discretion.