Phase 2 In The Hudson Valley: What Reopens And When

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Now more than halfway through phase one of reopening businesses during the coronavirus era, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday the Hudson Valley is expected to begin the second phase on Tuesday.

Local officials like Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin are busy helping their communities get ready. "We are working with every one of our merchants who reach out to us for assistance and we will be offering outdoor Village spaces, be it road closures or parking spaces, to help maximize the area in which to achieve a profitable number of customers," she said. "We are partners with everyone in the Village to ensure success to those who have been generous to us as residents for decades."

The state's regional COVID-19 tracking system shows the Hudson region continues to satisfy all seven metrics required to reopen businesses related to testing and tracing positive cases, keeping the infection rate and hospitalizations down, and keeping hospital capacity open in case infections spike.

Testing/Tracing Targets

• Maintain 30 per 1,000 diagnostic tests: 7.053/2,322
• Maintain required case and contact tracing capacity: 1,456

New Infections

• Percent positive tests per day (seven-day rolling average): 2.3 percent
• New cases per 100,000 residents (seven-day rolling average): 6.98 percent

Severity Of Infections

• Gross new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents: 1.14

Hospital Capacity

• Share of total hospital beds available (seven day rolling average): 34 percent
• Share of ICU beds available (seven-day rolling average): 54 percent

The re-opening is needed. The unemployment rate in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster and Westchester climbed in April to roughly 14 percent from just over 3 percent. And while all 15 metro areas in New York lost private sector jobs since April 2019, the worst hit in the state was Orange-Rockland-Westchester, which lost 24.6 percent of its private sector jobs.

The first phase of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's New York Forward plan allowed some industries to reopen, such as construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, retail (limited to curbside or in-store pickup or drop off), manufacturing and wholesale trade.

Should the infections remain low, the Hudson region will join seven others to begin phase two, a significant milestone in restarting economic activity.

For starters, it means people can finally get a haircut. And Cuomo on Wednesday amended the reopening plan to include outdoor dining in phase two.

Hair salons and barbershops will be allowed to reopen with certain restrictions, as will professional offices. Retailers will be able to allow in-store shopping, and real estate offices will be allowed to reopen their doors.

Furthermore, car dealerships can reopen for sales and leases, and film work will be allowed to resume, which creates millions of dollars in economic activity and hundreds of jobs.

But even as the industries are allowed to resume operations, customers and workers should get used to a new normal.

Businesses in each industry must remain at or below 50 percent capacity and individuals must social distance.

Restaurants that offer outdoor dining must have tables spaced 6 feet apart, and all staff must wear masks. Patrons will also be required to wear face coverings when not seated.

Retail stores must give workers face coverings for free, and employees must wear them at checkout registers. Retail stores also have to install physical barriers such as plastic shield walls in certain areas.

At barbershops and hair salons, people must keep 6 feet apart inside when not receiving or giving hair services. Waiting rooms must remain closed, masks will be required, lines will be prohibited and nonessential amenities — including product samples, magazine areas and water fountains — are banned. And men can forget about beard trims — masks have to stay on.

"Eyebrow waxing, beard trimming, nail services , make up applications and facials do not even make it in Phase 2 rather, relegated to Phase 3," wrote Mayor Marvin. "As a footnote, I have no understanding why, for example, eyebrows cannot be waxed until Phase 3 but dental offices are now open for deep cleanings which we all know are fraught with a great deal of bacteria transfer. But we must follow the rules, even when logic escapes."

Office workers will also have to remain 6 feet apart, and wear face coverings when they come close to others. In-person gatherings will be limited, while tele- and video-conferencing are encouraged. Moreover, employees will have to stagger their arrival and departure times to reduce congestion in lobbies and elevators.

Click here to see more details about how each industry will reopen.

By Daniel Hampton, Patch Staff. Lanning Taliaferro contributed to this report.