Rockland COVID Update: Preparing To Open

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Opening the economy now that the new coronavirus outbreak has subsided is priority one, said Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

"Connecticut opened up its restaurants to outdoor dining, New York City closed its beaches," he said. "We are bringing these issues up in the Mid-Hudson region that we belong to."

There are 108 people currently hospitalized in Rockland with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.

Rockland is part of the Mid-Hudson region, which is close to meeting the state's standards for re-opening.

Day said he and his fellow county executives have complained to state officials that the benchmark about deaths is not appropriate for re-opening the region because it's not something any official can control. The maximum acceptable three-day rolling average of new hospital deaths is five and the region as of Wednesday had seven.

The other metric the region has not met is the number of contact tracers. Day said the state changed the criteria last week, which he called "maddening." Instead of hiring the "army of tracers" they promised, state officials are turning to the counties to pick up the slack, he said.

"Regardless of the state's failure, Rockland County is going to do everything possible to meet this standard," Day said. As of Thursday afternoon, Rockland has ID'd and trained 300 contact tracers, most of whom are county employees.

There is guidance on the state's New York Forward website for small businesses who are prepping to re-open, Day said. The resources include detailed lists for each phase, templates for business plans and more.

Plans must be on file that include protections for workers and customers or clients, such as adjustment to workers' hours, shift design, changes to the physical work space, strict cleaning standards, screening workers, reporting confirmed cases.

"People are concerned, they're worried, it's going to be incumbent upon businesses to make people feel safe," Day said. "Each business must have a plan to protect employees and customers."