Cuomo may 'un-pause' certain parts of New York on May 15, but harder-hit areas will stay closed

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says certain parts of the state where the outbreak of the coronavirus is under control may be able to reopen on May 15.
• Harder-hit areas, including New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, will reopen later.
• The state also released its updated antibody test results. Nearly one-in-four New Yorkers may have been infected, an increase from the previous results released last week.
• New York also canceled its June 23 Democratic primary.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will look to open certain regions of the state where the spread of the coronavirus is mostly under control on May 15.

The state's stay-at-home orders and business closures collectively referred to as "NY Pause" expire on May 15. Cuomo said harder-hit areas of the state, including New York City, Westchester, and parts of Long Island, would remain closed after May 15 with reopening decisions made on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with authorities in Connecticut and New Jersey.

Cuomo added that manufacturing and construction would be among the first industries to open upstate. Cuomo said the state will look for hospitalization rates to decline for two weeks straight before any reopening, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

"Each region is facing its own set of facts. Protecting public health comes first and all decisions will be data-driven," Cuomo said from Albany on Monday. "As long as we keep being smart the worst should be over."

Here are the key takeaways from Cuomo's Monday press conference:

• The state released new data from its antibody testing program. The preliminary results revealed that nearly 15% of New Yorkers — approximately 2.9 million people — may have been infected with the virus. The sample size for Monday's numbers was 7,500 people.
• In New York City — the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak — nearly 25% tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, indicating they had contracted the virus at some point in the past. That's up from 21% last week.
• There are still severe racial discrepancies in the test results. Latinos tested positive at more than three times the rate of whites, per Monday's results, and blacks tested at just under double the rate of whites.
• Overall deaths ticked down to 337 on Monday, down from 367 on Sunday. The three-day rolling average of hospitalizations remained flat at approximately 1,000 new admissions each day, per the state's Department of Health.
• The New York State board of elections canceled the state's June 23 primary outright, after the state made accommodations to let voters cast their ballots absentee. Part of the reasoning, Cuomo said, is that former Vice President Joseph Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
• "I'm not going to second-guess the board of elections," Cuomo said.
• Food banks across the state have seen a surge in demand. On top of that, Cuomo said some dairy farms in upstate New York have been dumping milk, as the demand isn't there and the price has cratered.
• To combat this issue, Cuomo said the state will provide $25 million of funding to food banks, and the state is launching a program to purchase milk and other food products from farms and donate it to food banks in Westchester and New York City.
• "We have people downstate who need food. We have farmers upstate who can't sell their products. We have to put those two things together," Cuomo said.
• Cuomo discussed the four key indicators he's watching to reopen: the hospitalization rate, antibody testing results, diagnostic testing results, and the infection rate. If any of these go up after reopening, Cuomo said, the state will re-establish the shutdowns.
• Cuomo praised Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's decision to stand up to Sen. Mitch McConnell on the senate majority leader's comment that states should declare bankruptcy.
• "It takes guts. You don't get that from a typical politician. So thank you, governor," Cuomo said.
• On the topic of federal bailouts for hard-hit states — and President Donald Trump's tweets on the issue — Cuomo said New York historically pays for more than its fair share and should be entitled to federal assistance.
• "If you want to go to who gets bailed out and who gets what, no one will be bailing out New York State. New York State has been bailing them out for decades," Cuomo said.

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