Cuomo to take cautious, four-phased approach to reopening
BY MARK HALLUM
With 24,891 deaths out of
324,890 cases in New York,
Governor Andrew Cuomo is
looking to a reopening plan that has four
phases instead of the original two pitched
in April as COVID-19 hospitalizations
started coming to a decline.
Cuomo said by following the metrics and
taking a nuanced approach will allow society
to get back to life while compensating
for rate of transmission of the coronavirus
at 1.1 or less. Any more than that and it is
at “outbreak” levels.
“As long as your rate of transmission
is low and manageable, then reopen your
businesses. And reopen your businesses
in phases so you’re increasing that activity
level while you’re watching that rate of
transmission,” Cuomo said. “If it gets over
1.1, stop everything immediately.”
A summarized by Cuomo in earlier
press conferences, the Centers for Disease
Control mandates that before a region can
begin reopening they must have 14 days
of consecutive decline in hospitalizations
and deaths. As such, the governor has set
May 15 for the end of the PAUSE program.
BY TODD MAISEL
The NYPD reported a 28.5% plunge
in overall crime during April — not
a surprise considering that most of
the city has been shutdown due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
There are fewer traffi c crashes and fewer
bicyclists are being struck by vehicles because
so many people are self quarantined
and don’t travel to a workplace during the
crisis.
That’s where the good news ends in the
April report issued May 4. Murders, burglaries
and auto theft all rose last month.
Even with the sharp decrease in April,
overall crime continues to track upward for
the year, with a 2.6% increase since Jan. 1.
Most disturbing was the murder rate
jumped by 34.8%, with 31 murders during
the month of April versus 23 the year before.
Offi cials believe much of that is driven
by an uptick in gang related violence both
in upper Manhattan, the Bronx and the
south eastern parts of Brooklyn. Murder
is up 4.1% (102 v. 98) for the fi rst four
months of the year when compared to the
fi rst four months of 2019.
Auto theft also jumped a whopping
59.5% for the month, some of which is attributed
to vehicles being left unattended
for long periods of time during the crisis – a
crime of opportunity, police say.
Burglaries were also up dramatically,
For regions with very few COVID-19
cases, new total cases cannot exceed 15
or 5 new deaths on a three rolling basis.
Before regions can begin reopening they
would also need a testing capacity of 30
for 1,000 people.
Although the daily death toll has gone
from 299 on May 1 to 226 on Sunday,
Cuomo said this statistic is not on the decline
as fast his administration would like.
SCREENSHOT
Pandemic plummet: Big crime drop in NYC,
but virus poses other problems for cops
Police officers give out free surgical masks in East River Park on Sunday.
31.6% for the month, 1,090 versus 828
the year before.
Police Commissioner Dermot Shea attributed
the rise to many businesses being
closed during the pandemic, making them
an easy target for burglars, some of whom
have in the past been described by Shea
as repeat offenders, some of whom may
have been released under the new criminal
In preparation of any surges in cases,
Cuomo says 30% of hospital and ICU beds
have to be reserved for coronavirus patients
as not to overload the system. This was
announced during Sunday’s press briefi ng
in which he said hospitals will now be required
by the state to keep up to 90 days of
personal protective equipment in stockpile
at any given time.
“We have a couple of weeks, but this
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
justice reforms.
It wasn’t all bad news though as overall
crime fell in every borough for April,
within the transit system and across public
housing. In that one-month period, there
was a 26% decrease in the number of
robberies (679 v. 913); a 32% decrease
in felony assaults (1,130 v. 1,652); and a
52% decrease in grand larcenies (1,566
what local leaders, what a community
needs in order to reopen safely and intelligently.
It can’t just be, we want to get out
of the house,” Cuomo said.
The success of a region’s reopening
can depend on the competence of elected
offi cials, according to Cuomo, which can
mean the difference between life and death,
he said.
v. 3,250.) The City saw a 9.7% decrease
in the number of shooting incidents for
the month of April, (56 v. 62), driven by
an 80% reduction in shooting incidents
in April’s fi nal week (9 v. 5). Police were
searching for a shooting suspect on Central
Park West just this afternoon.
The COVID-19 epidemic has made it
even more diffi cult for the NYPD as 7,100
offi cers at the height of the pandemic, had
been reported to have the contagion in
some form.
Currently, 5,230 members of the NYPD
have tested positive for coronavirus. As of
today, Sunday, May 3rd 4,491 members of
the NYPD have returned to work full duty
after recovering from a positive test for the
coronavirus and 563 uniformed members
plus 138 civilian members are still out sick
diagnosed with coronavirus.
The city has also seen a reduction in
overall domestic violence complaints in
April, though NYPD offi cials remain
concerned that these fi gures refl ect underreporting
by victims. Another piece of good
news was citywide hate crimes declined
47% (102 v. 149) for the year, though police
are investigating 14 Asian related crimes
linked to the COVID-19 crisis.
16 May 7, 2020 Schneps Media