No. 202.19
E X E C U T I V E O R D E R
Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency
WHEREAS, on March 7, 2020, I issued Executive Order Number 202, declaring a State disaster emergency for the entire State of New York; and
WHEREAS, both travel-related cases and community contact transmission of COVID-19 have been documented in New York State and are expected to be continue;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 29-a of Article 2-B of the Executive Law to temporarily suspend or modify any statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule, or regulation, or parts thereof, of any agency during a State disaster emergency, if compliance with such statute, local law, ordinance, order, rule, or regulation would prevent, hinder, or delay action necessary to cope with the disaster emergency or if necessary to assist or aid in coping with such disaster, I hereby temporarily suspend or modify, for the period from the date of this Executive Order through May 17, 2020 the following:
- Subdivision one of Section 860-b of the Labor Law, to the extent necessary to allow a business that receives federal Paycheck Protection Program funding and subsequently rehires employees, to provide the notice required under this section as soon as practicable but not necessarily within ninety days, provided that a business that receives federal Paycheck Protection Program funding provided the notice required under this section when it initially laid off employees.
IN ADDITION, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 29-a of Article 2-B of the Executive Law to issue any directive during a disaster emergency necessary to cope with the disaster, I hereby issue the following directives for the period from the date of this Executive Order through May 17, 2020:
- The Department of Health shall hereby establish a single, statewide coordinated testing prioritization process that shall require all laboratories in the state, both public and private, that conduct COVID-19 diagnostic testing, to complete such COVID-19 diagnostic testing only in accordance with such process. Any such laboratories shall prioritize testing of entities or individuals as directed by this coordinated statewide process. Any such laboratories may not, without an exemption from the Department of Health, enter into an agreement that would reserve testing capabilities for any private or public entity and therefore impede the Departments’ ability to prioritize and coordinate COVID-19 testing in New York State. Any violation of this directive may result in a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 or three times the value of such testing provided in violation of this section, and provided further that the Commissioner is hereby empowered and may revoke any operating certificate or license of such laboratory.
- The directive contained in Executive Order 202.18 requiring any skilled nursing facility, nursing home, or adult care facility licensed and regulated by the Commissioner of Health to notify a family member or next of kin if any resident tests positive for COVID-19, or suffers a COVID-19 related death, within 24 hours is hereby modified solely to provide a penalty for non-compliance of $2,000 per violation per day, as if it were a violation of section 12 of the public health law, and any subsequent violation shall be punishable as if it is a violation of section 12-b of the public health law.
- No local government or local department of health shall take any actions that could affect public health without consulting with the state department of health. No local government official shall take any action that could impede or conflict with any other local government actions, or state actions, with respect to managing the COVID-19 public health emergency.
G I V E N under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State in the City of Albany this seventeenth day of April in the year two thousand twenty.
BY THE GOVERNOR
Secretary to the Governor
