New York City, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, will begin reopening in a phased manner on June 8, bringing about 4,000,000 employees back to work, Governor Andrew Cuomo has said.
New York City has been shut since mid-March as coronavirus ravaged the metropolis, which has reported over 199,038 coronavirus cases so far and close to 20,000 deaths. US has so far reported more than 1,747,085 COVID-19 cases and over 102,835 fatalities -- both the numbers highest in the world.
Regions across New York State began their phased re-opening this month but New York City remained shut as it did not meet the seven health-related criteria necessary for the first phase of reopening.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, New York Governor Cuomo said the city is on track to meet all the metrics and will enter phase one of reopening on June 8.
“Phase one should bring about 4,000,000 employees back to work in New York City. Remember that reopening does not mean we’re going back to the way things were...It is reopening to a new normal, it’s a safer normal,” Cuomo said.
