Another Region Reopening Businesses; Cuomo Says Sports Can Return

NEW YORK, NY — A sixth region satisfied the state's seven metrics to begin phase one of reopening businesses amid the coronavirus crisis, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday encouraged professional sports teams to resume playing games as long as stadiums have no fans.

Western New York identified 525 tracers over the weekend and will begin phase one of reopening Tuesday, joining central New York, the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country and Southern Tier, the governor said.

The Capital Region, Long Island, Mid-Hudson and New York City are the only regions that cannot reopen yet. Long Island has satisfied five of the metrics, while Mid-Hudson has met four and New York City has met three.

"My opinion is they have to do a ramp up anyway," Cuomo told reporters at his daily briefing.

The state has the power to prevent teams from playing, he said, but noted officials will help televised sports resume as long as it's safe.

"Why wait until we can fill a stadium before bringing a team back?" Cuomo said.

In response to a question about when houses of worship and libraries can reopen, Cuomo's staff said they won't be able to open their doors to the public until phase four of the state's reopening guidelines.

"The gathering is the issue," Cuomo reiterated, once again noting that New Rochelle was the nation's first hot spot because a single congregant infected dozens of others at a religious gathering.

"One person infected, you have a problem," he added.

Cuomo also encouraged New Yorkers to get tested for the virus at one of the 700 sites across the state, saying many testing sites aren't yet meeting their capacity. Some that can do 15,000 a day are doing about 5,000, he said.

The virus continued to show signs that it was spreading more slowly.

Total hospitalizations, intubations, intensive care admissions and new hospitalizations all showed downward trends, Cuomo said.

Cuomo said the number of people who died of the virus fell to late March levels — 106 people died Sunday, including 83 in hospitals and 23 in nursing homes.

Nursing homes have complained that the state's requirement to test staff twice a week has been burdensome, Cuomo said, but the governor emphasized he will keep the requirement to ensure the state is doing everything it can for seniors. State officials are connecting facilities with labs that have reserved at least 35,000 tests a day for nursing homes. The state also plans to send 320,000 test kits to nursing homes across the state this week.

Cuomo said judges and staff will also return in 30 upstate counties.