As Nassau Begins Reopening, Curran Looks To The Future

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — Long Island entered phase one of the state's plan to reopen Wednesday. And as some areas start to transition, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran is looking to the future and the next steps in a return to normalcy.

Long Island was one of the last areas of the state to enter phase one of the reopening plan. A continued increase of daily deaths held off Long Island's reopening, as did the need to hire dozens of contact tracers to stymie future cases.

As of Wednesday, Long Island can resume construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting and retail (with sales limited to curbside or in-store pickup and drop off only).

"The goal of reopening, of course, is to do this in a way that mitigates the spread of coronavirus," Curran said. "We want to make sure we're doing it safely, because the last thing any of us want to do is backtrack on the process we're making."

Long Island must stay in phase one for two weeks before moving to phase two. If there isn't a spike in cases of the virus during that time, Long Island can move on to the next phase. There is a two-week period between each phase.

Though Nassau County is starting to reopen, the virus has still taken a staggering toll on the area. As of May 26, the county recorded 40,043 positive cases of the virus, hitting a new milestone. There have also been 2,111 deaths caused by the disease. The first deaths were reported on March 16 and grew steeply through the month of April before tapering off in May.

As the area progresses through the phases more and more services will resume. Phase Two includes professional services, administrative support, real estate services and more retail. Curran said she is also trying to get Gov. Andrew Cuomo to include barber shops and beauty salons in the professional services category.

Despite the fact that the area is beginning to reopen, not all businesses are fully on board yet. "I'm getting feedback from some of our business owners that they're not ready to open yet, that they're not comfortable reopening," said Curran.

In order to help businesses with the transition, the county created an online resource to help business owners figure out which phase of reopening they would be in, and what they need to do in order to open. That resource can be found here.

"I am confident that by reopening smartly, our region can continue on to phase two," Curran said.