New York is moving Forward and taking Schoharie County with it.
The Mohawk Valley Region—which includes Schoharie, Otsego, Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer, and Oneida Counties—is one of three that have met the state’s COVID-19 criteria and will be able to reopen some low-risk businesses Friday.
The Finger Lakes and Southern Tier Regions will also be able to begin “reopening the valve,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday, in what he called “the next big step in this historic journey.”
How long that journey takes, “will be determined by facts and numbers as we go along,” Governor Cuomo said. “How fast can we open the valve?”
Construction, manufacturing, curbside retail and low-risk outdoor activities like landscaping and drive-ins are among the first businesses set to reopen Friday.
By the end of May, professional services, finance and insurance, retail, and real estate will join the list; mid-June, restaurants and hotels, and the end of June, arts, entertainment, recreation, and education.
The 50-page New York Forward released Monday looks at the state’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 as well as the challenges ahead, including the unprecedented impact on the economy; testing and tracing remain critical to stemming the virus’s tide.
The plan doesn’t go very deep into the specifics of the business reopenings—though they will have to submit a plan that details steps they’re taking to protect employees--and County Administrator Steve Wilson said he expects more guidance and details before Friday.
As fast as he gets information, Mr. Wilson said, he’ll pass it on to partners SEEC, the Chamber of Commerce, and Direct Marketing Corporation.
New York Forward acknowledges that the state’s different regions have different requirements and creates Regional Control Rooms and a “dashboard” to keep track of progress and numbers in case a second wave of the virus hits as some have predicted.
The metrics used to gauge whether a region is reopening-ready include the infection rate, the number of available hospital beds, and sufficient testing and contact-tracing capacity.
The North Country and Central New York Regions have met six of the seven reopening requirements and could still be ready by Friday, Governor Cuomo said.
Lagging behind are Western New York, Long Island, the Mid-Hudson and the Capital Region, which still must meet two more of the state’s requirements, and New York City, which still doesn’t have enough hospital beds.
At last count, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Schoharie County was 42 with one death.
State figures show 67 positives in Otsego County, 67 in Montgomery, 107 in Fulton, 79 in Herkimer, and 660 in Oneida—the rest of the Mohawk Valley Region.
Mr. Wilson said the earliest the county could reopen its buildings and facilities would likely be June 2 and is developing guidelines for a limited amount of public access with access increasing as the situation warrants.
He praised the county’s inclusion on the first-to-reopen list and called it yet another example of #SchoharieStrong.
“People took this very seriously and in other places, they did not,” he said.
There are likely more cases than we know, he said, but because people are following the rules, COVID hasn’t exploded.
“People in Schoharie County did a good job.”