NY State Of Emergency Extended Until June 6 By Cuomo

Note: This story was updated after Gov. Andrew Cuomo's senior adviser Richard Azzopardi, who initially stated the "PAUSE" was extended, later corrected himself to say the order extended a state of emergency.

NEW YORK CITY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has the authority to extend New York's coronavirus stay-at-home order through June 6 after approving an executive order Friday, state records show.

Regions that meet specific COVID-19 criteria laid out Monday can still begin to reopen non-essential businesses and ease back social distancing measures on May 15, the order states.

While Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi initially stated the order extended the stay-at-home, saying those who didn't meet the benchmarks "will still be on PAUSE," the governor's secretary Melissa DeRosa issued a correction.

"Yesterday's Executive Order extended the underlying legal authority for the executive order," DeRosa tweeted. "BUT did not change the text of any of the directives in NY ON PAUSE & so the expiration date on May 15 still stands until further notice."

Azzopardi publicly apologized for his initial statement.

Before any of the 10 New York regions reopen, they will have to meet the following benchmarks:

• Regions must have at least 14 days of decline in total net hospitalizations and deaths on a 3-day rolling average.
• Every region must have the health care capacity to handle a potential surge in cases, with at least 30 percent total hospital and ICU beds available.
• Each region must be able to conduct 30 diagnostic tests for every 1,000 residents per month.
• Regions must have 30 contact tracers available for every 100,000 residents.

The state's stay at home order is set to expire May 15, but Cuomo made it clear reopening would only occur in areas less seriously affected by the virus, with hard hit places like New York City and Long Island continuing with the shut down.

Any region hoping to reopen May 15 will need to provide a detailed plan that includes how rates of infection will be monitored, if health care capacity is enough to deal with any infection increase, and if infrastructure is in place to do testing and tracing, Cuomo said.

Regions also need to have a plan in place for how people will return to work, including what measures businesses will have to ensure social distancing and mask wearing.

When plans are approved, businesses will go back in four phases, with construction and manufacturing first, followed by professional services, retail and real estate, then restaurants, food services and accommodation.

The last phase would involve the arts, entertainment and recreation businesses.

Cuomo said if any spike in infection rates is seen by the region, a hard stop would be put in place again.

New York State has been under a stay at home order since March 22.

Patch editor Adam Nichols contributed to this report.