水果派AV

The five-county region, which includes Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties, learned last week that it has met five of the state's seven metrics to reopen after the statewide shutdown expires May 15. The benchmarks include a 14-day decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations, a 14-day decline in hospital deaths, under two new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents and at least 30% of hospital beds and 30% of intensive care unit beds must be open.聽

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo first shared details about the metrics, the only reopening hurdles the region hadn't cleared were . Central New York must have 233 tracers to meet the 30 contact tracers per 100,000 residents mandate and it must average 30 tests for every 1,000 residents over a seven-day period.聽

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon told 水果派AV that his county will have more than 240 tracers 鈥� enough to clear the state's contact tracing threshold on their own. Cayuga, Cortland, Madison and Oswego counties will form their own tracing teams, but McMahon said Onondaga would be willing to consider it a shared service if other counties need help.聽

With the contact tracing box checked, testing capacity is the only barrier to reopening. Entering May, none of the counties in the region had tested 3% of its population in a month. But to prepare for the regional relaunch, Onondaga County started to proactively test for COVID-19. More testing has been done at senior living centers and there are plans to set up clinics at public housing complexes.

Onondaga County is also helping its neighbors boost testing. McMahon said his county provided 1,000 tests to Cayuga and 500 tests to Cortland. Cayuga County announced Saturday that it will open a two-day clinic to test essential workers for COVID-19.聽

The additional test kits will allow the smaller counties to join Onondaga in performing proactive tests.聽

"We're going to share the data," McMahon said. "We'll know how many tests are being done in each county each day so we can track our number regionally."聽

Cayuga County Legislature Chairwoman Aileen McNabb-Coleman did not respond to requests for comment. Auburn City Manager Jeff Dygert, who is representing the city in reopening discussions, was unavailable for an interview.聽

Before advancing the testing plan, McMahon sought clarity from the state on how the region could meet the testing requirement. Cuomo said that the state would follow the recommendation of Dr. Deborah Birx, who leads the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and set a goal of 30 tests for every 1,000 people in a month. But it wasn't clear if regions needed to clear that threshold before reopening.聽

McMahon received an answer: The seven-day average would be based on data from the week leading up to May 15.聽

"That's the one we got to get to," he said. "We're going to be there."聽

If the region reaches the testing mark, the phased reopening will commence. Cuomo explained the four phases during a briefing last week. In the first phase, construction, manufacturing and some retail businesses will be allowed to reopen. The retail stores would be limited to curbside pickup.聽

In the second phase, more retail stores would open and other industries, including finance and real estate, could resume operations. Hotels and restaurants would reopen in the third phase. The fourth phase covers arts, education and entertainment.聽

Businesses that reopen in any phase must take precautions, including social distancing and using masks if employees have direct contact with others.聽

McMahon believes the second phase will be the "big test" for central New York. That's when more businesses will be allowed to restart, including more retail stores. With more density, there's the potential that more COVID-19 cases could emerge.聽

With the region inching closer to the first phase, McMahon is hoping to convince the state to open other businesses that aren't in the construction or manufacturing industries. He thinks that there are businesses that could reopen under strict guidelines.

Regardless of whether other industries will be added to the phase one list, McMahon is confident that the region is ready to advance its reopening plan.聽

"We know what we can do and what our ability is to fight this virus in real-time," he said. "We understand what our capacity is and that's what each phase needs to be. We're going to do as much as we think we can do to stay on top of the virus in phase one and then we learn from that and then we look at phase two."聽

The regional reopening may provide a much-needed spark. With national unemployment at nearly 15% and more than 1.6 million unemployment claims processed in New York, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an economic crisis. There are businesses that have permanently closed and workers who have lost their jobs.聽

Local governments, especially counties, are struggling. Cayuga County had to furlough 11% of its government workforce due to the pandemic.聽

McMahon agrees that the reopening could provide an economic bump. But he thinks it may help in addressing another problem: mental health. He is concerned about the mental health effects of the pandemic and economic collapse. What he's observed is a shift from fear to a "different type of anxiety."

"As much as the restart is going to bring economic relief to families and municipalities, it's going to bring hope and mental health relief as well," McMahon said.聽