On Monday night, May 4, 2020, Governor Cuomo announced his plan to re-open New York State on PAUSE expires on May 15th. The plan is meant to “determine which regions allow what sectors to reopen and when.”
First, each region must satisfy seven specific criteria that illustrate the region’s current COVID-19 status (the governor’s office is providing an updated chart on where regions stand):
Once regions meet these criteria, then businesses in each region can re-open. Governor Cuomo prioritized some industries for re-opening, and explained that the re-opening of businesses in each phase will proceed with caution.
When reopening, Governor Cuomo mandated in the guidelines that each “business and industry must have a plan to protect workers and consumers.” The outlined business precautions include:
With the entire country re-opening, some industries are already looking ahead and taking the steps to provide industry-specific guidelines. A nationwide construction union released standards for construction sites to follow – construction is one of the industries in Phase One. A nationwide hotel association also released health and safety standards for hotels to follow, though hotels and accommodations will not be re-opening until Phase Three. New York City, however, will likely be one of the last areas to reopen.
Written by Law Clerk Rafita Ahlam.