BREAKING NEWS: Gov. Cuomo Says Mid-Hudson Economy to Reopen on Tuesday

ALBANY—Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that pending the required training of contact tracers over the Memorial Day weekend, the Mid-Hudson regional economy will begin phase one of its economy’s reopening on Tuesday, May 26.

The governor in his daily COVID-19 briefing on Saturday said the Mid-Hudson region had met the metric in terms of COVID deaths and only required providing training to the several thousand contract tracers in order to meet all seven required metrics for reopening. The Mid-Hudson regional economy has been all but shut down, with the exception of essential businesses, since the governor put “New York on Pause” on March 22.

The first phase of the reopening loosens restrictions imposed back in March on the construction and manufacturing industries, as well as the wholesale supply chain. In addition, certain retail operations can be expanded for curbside pickup and drop-off or in-store pickup. The phase one designation also affects the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.

During his daily COVID-19 briefing on. Friday,  Gov. Cuomo said that the Mid-Hudson and Long Island regional economies could open next week if COVID-related deaths continue to decline and contact tracing benchmarks are complied with in both regions.

The governor said that in anticipation of the reopening, he would allow construction staging to commence in both regions.

The governor’s announcement of the reopening on Tuesday for the Mid-Hudson is welcome news to business leaders, government officials and unemployed workers in the Mid-Hudson that have been anxiously awaiting the beginning of the phased reopening of the region.

In recent days, county executives and other politicos, including U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney have said the Mid-Hudson region was poised and ready to begin the first phase of the reopening.

A total of 84  people statewide died on Friday from COVID-19.

New $100M Small Business Loan Fund Launched

On Friday, the governor announced  the launch of the $100 million New York Forward Loan Fund to provide flexible and affordable loans to help small businesses, focusing on minority and women owned small businesses, that did not receive federal COVID-19 assistance. Officials noted that the state will take a smart, targeted approach for distributing these loans, focusing on businesses with 20 or fewer employees and less than $3 million in gross revenues. Businesses interested in receiving a loan should visit esd.ny.gov/nyforwardloans.