Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has released additional guidelines the North Country and other regions of the state must follow as part of the reopening plan.

Based on CDC recommendations, once a region experiences a 14-day decline in the hospitalization rate it may begin a phased re-opening.

Businesses in each region will reopen in phases. Phase one will include opening construction and manufacturing functions with low risk. Phase two will open certain industries based on priority and risk level. Businesses considered "more essential" with inherent low risks of infection in the workplace and to customers will be prioritized, followed by other businesses considered "less essential" or those that present a higher risk of infection spread.

Regions must not open attractions or businesses that would draw a large number of visitors from outside the local area, according to the governor’s office.

Each business and industry must have a plan to protect employees and consumers, make the physical work space safer and implement processes that lower risk of infection in the business. Regions must continue to ensure protections are in place for essential workers, Cuomo’s office said.

To maintain the phased reopening plan, each region must have at least 30% of hospital beds and ICU beds available after elective surgeries resume.

Regions must implement a testing regimen that prioritizes symptomatic persons and individuals who came into contact with a known COVID-positive person, and conducts frequent tests of frontline and essential workers. Regions must maintain an appropriate number of testing sites to accommodate its population and must fully advertise where and how people can get tested. The region must also use the collected data to track and trace the spread of the virus, according to the governor’s office.

There must be at least 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 people. The region must also monitor the regional infection rate throughout the reopening plan. Regions must present plans to have rooms available for people who test positive for COVID-19 and who cannot self-isolate, Cuomo’s office said.

Regions must coordinate the reopening of schools, transportation systems, testing and tracing with other surrounding regions. Each region must appoint an oversight institution as its control room to monitor regional indicators during the phased reopening, including hospital capacity, rate of infection, PPE burn rate and businesses, the governor’s office said.

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