Governor Cuomo Announces New York City Cleared by Global Health Experts to Enter Phase Four of Reopening Monday, July 20th

Every Region of New York State Will Now Be in Phase Four of Reopening

Governor Cuomo: "New York City will enter Phase Four on Monday. That is a hallmark for us. Every region of the state will now be in Phase Four. There are no more phases. Then Phase Four, so we are all in the final phase of reopening. And that's great. Every region has made it through the four phases without having to close. And the numbers are consistent through all phases of reopening. And this is what we said from day one, reopen smart, and if you reopen smart and you reopen in phases, and you follow the data, it's actually a better way for the economy to reopen because if you rush the reopening then you risk the probability of a viral increase."

Cuomo: "The Phase Four allows schools to reopen pursuant to the State guidance. It allows low-risk outdoor activities and entertainment at 33 percent capacity. It allows outdoor professional sports without fans and that is happening as you know. It allows media production. In New York City as I announced yesterday we're not going to have any indoor activity in malls or cultural institutions and we'll continue to monitor that situation and when the facts change we will let you know."

Cuomo: "What we're really looking at now is the potential of a second wave - not the second wave that we originally discussed. The second wave that we originally feared was from the theory of the 1918 pandemic where there was Phase One and then the virus mutated and came back in Phase Four. That's not what we're looking at here. This second wave would be man-made, not made by Mother Nature. It would not be mutation of the virus. It would be a wave that comes from the West and the South, a southwesterly wave that comes back to New York from the increase in the other states. We are painfully aware now that an outbreak anywhere is an outbreak everywhere."

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the team of global health experts advising New York State's reopening strategy has thoroughly reviewed the data for New York City and has cleared it to enter Phase Four of reopening without any additional indoor activity, such as malls and cultural institutions, beginning Monday, July 20th. Every region of New York State will now be in Phase Four of reopening. New York Forward guidance for Phase Four reopening can be found here.