NY Update: Cuomo Asks Pro Sports to Play Without Fans, 6th NY Region set to Reopen

Mr. Cuomo reported on Monday that 106 more people in the state had died of the virus, the lowest one-day toll since March 26. And he revealed the results of the virus test he took on live television on Sunday: Negative.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Cuomo announced that Western New York has met all seven metrics required to begin phase one of the state’s regional phased reopening plan starting tomorrow, joining the Central New York, North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley Regions. Western New York has now identified enough contact tracers to meet the state’s guidelines, and the tracers are being trained today in preparation for Western New York entering phase one, which includes construction; manufacturing and wholesale supply chain; retail for curbside pickup and drop-off or in-store pickup; and agriculture, forestry and fishing. Business guidance for phase one of the state’s reopening plan is available here. A guide to the state’s “NY Forward Reopening” Plan is available here. The state’s regional monitoring dashboard is available here.

Governor Cuomo also announced the State Department of Health has granted Erie County Medical Center a waiver to restart elective procedures.

The Governor also announced new efforts to bring more tests to nursing home facilities to help these facilities meet new guidelines mandating that all nursing homes and adult care facilities test all personnel for COVID-19 two times per week. The state is connecting nursing home facilities with labs to get more tests to these facilities, and so far the labs have reserved at least 35,000 tests per day just for this purpose. The state is also sending 320,000 test kits to nursing homes statewide this week.

The Governor also encouraged major sports teams to plan reopening without fans and offered the state’s help on this effort

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that he’s asked teams from major sports leagues to plan on playing without fans as the state continues to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, CNBC reports.

Cuomo said during his daily press briefing that his state is willing to help teams, whose return to playing largely depends on the teams’ ability to make money without fans in the stadiums.

“New York state will help those major sport franchises to do just that,” he said. “Hockey, basketball, baseball, football, whoever can reopen we’re a ready, willing and able partner.”