New York City is being held up from reopening after the May 15 lockdown by a shortage in hospital and ICU beds, along with a lack in contr...
New York City is being held up from reopening after the May 15 lockdown by a shortage in hospital and ICU beds, along with a lack in contract tracers to find people infected with the virus, despite steadily declining death and hospitalization rates and Mayor Bill de Blasio heralding the turnaround as 'the day we've been waiting for'.
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday revealed a seven point checklist that every region in the state must meet before reopening after the lockdown ends on May 15, and a lack of contact tracers is what holds every area back.
Cuomo's statewide shut down order is in place until May 15 but after then, different regions across the state will be able to reopen so long as they have met certain criteria. It includes having 14 day declines in hospitalizations and deaths, having 30 percent of hospital beds and ICU beds free, doing sufficient testing and having enough tracers to track down anyone who may have come into contact with the virus.
New York City meets three of the seven requirements and is held up by the lack of free hospital beds (it has 26 percent rather than 30 percent free), its persistent hospitalization rate, lack of free ICU beds (21 percent as opposed to 30 percent) and the fact there are not enough tracers.
New York City alone needs 2,520 but the hiring portal only launched on Friday and officials will not say whether any have been hired yet.
'The interview process is underway,' a State Department of Health employee told DailyMail.com on Monday afternoon. The tracing program will be overseen by former mayor Mike Bloomberg and his Bloomberg Philanthropies but a spokesman would not comment on it on Monday.
On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that for the first time in weeks, hospitals have enough supplies to get through the next seven days and that the new figures represented 'the kind of day we've been waiting for'.
But no non-essential business is allowed to reopen for another 10 days at least. They will only then be able to resume normal practice once they meet Cuomo's checklist.
Some say it is an 'impossible' benchmark and that the city needs to get back to work to revive the economy. Some Republican lawmakers have already called on Cuomo to allow some people to get back to work safely.
Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, for example, has written to the state legislature to allow roofers to resume operations, saying that outdoor work - if masks are worn and social distancing applies - is safe.
There is growing impatience among residents too.
Some accused Cuomo of 'shackling' the economy and holding the state 'hostage'.
In six parts of the state, the only thing holding them up from reopening is not having sufficient testing and not having sufficient tracing.
Those areas - Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, Northern County and Southern Tier - meet every other requirement.
It came as the number of deaths continued to decline.
There were 226 deaths on Sunday, bringing the total to 19,415, and 717 new hospitalizations.
The total number of infections across the state is now 318,953, 31 percent of the 1,007,310 tested. Six percent of all those who have been diagnosed have died.
There were 2, 538 new positive cases found on Sunday which marks a significant decrease from last week, when more than 4,600 were diagnosed in a single day.
The first businesses to reopen will be manufacturing, construction and curbside retail.
The second phase will include professional services, real estate, more retailers, finance and administrative support.
The third phase will allow restaurants, accommodation and other food services to reopen. Last to reopen will be arts, education, recreation and entertainment.
Cuomo said it was not fair to force some parts of the state that do not have a severe problem to wait for the entire state to be ready, saying: 'If upstate has to wait for downstate to be ready, they're going to be waiting a long time.'
The numbers are encouraging but Cuomo warned they could be a sign of flawed reporting over the weekend and should be treated cautiously.
The reopening criteria includes a steady 14 day decline in new cases, deaths and having fewer than two people per 100,000 hospitalized with the virus on a daily basis.
Hospitals must keep 30 percent of their beds and 30 percent of their ICU beds clear for COVID-patients and 30 per 1,000 residents must be being tested monthly.
The final criteria is to have at least 30 contact tracers per 100,000 residents to trace and isolate new cases.
Of the seven requirements, some parts of the state like the Finger Lakes, Central New York and North Country, are already meeting five.
New York City - the epicenter of the epicenter - meets three of the seven.
Long Island currently meets only three of the seven.
It is being held up by hospital deaths, which are not on a 14-day decline, new hospitalizations, and lack of hospital beds.
What is holding it up from reopening is a lack of hospital beds and ICU beds, the persistent rate of new hospitalizations and a lack of contact tracers.
It is unclear how many tracers - another of the criteria - have been hired yet.
That effort is being led by former Mayor Mike Bloomberg as part of an effort with Johns Hopkins.
They say they will produce an 'army' of tracers.
Across the state, 5,864 are needed, including 2,520 in New York City alone.
The city is currently hiring 1,000 people to fulfill those jobs for between $50,000 and $65,000 a year.
It is also unclear how regions can seek to meet the requirements.
If they are being held up purely by a lack of hospital beds, Cuomo did not say whether they could add more to their systems or if they had to wait for 30 percent of what they currently have to become available.
Cuomo said that the data clearly shows a descent from the virus peak but that it was not happening as quickly as anyone hoped it would.
The tracing program is not one that all states are insisting on before reopening.
The New York effort is being spearheaded by former mayor Mike Bloomberg who said he wanted to help bring New York back to life.
He and Cuomo announced it last month and said it would begin immediately.
But the portal to apply for the jobs only launched on Friday. Then, people need to be vetted before they can be approved for the roles.
Current government employees who may not be able to fulfill
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