State Updates
Governor Cuomo Discusses Regional “Reopening” Plans
Today (May 11th), Governor Cuomo held a press conference during which he announced that total hospitalizations, new hospitalizations, and deaths related to COVID-19 continue to decline. As a result, the statewide NY on PAUSE social distancing requirements will not be extended past May 15th and individuals and local officials in each state region may begin to prepare for reopening. However, the Governor reiterated that all regions must meet the seven metrics outlined by the State before reopening, which include metrics related to declines in hospitalizations and deaths, availability of hospital and ICU beds, and capacity for testing and contact tracing. Each region will have a “control room” that will monitor regional metrics during the reopening process, alert the State if the region is no longer meeting reopening requirements, and adjust the region’s reopening plan accordingly. A list of members of each regional control room is available here.
Three regions (Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, and Southern Tier) have currently met all seven metrics and may therefore reopen on May 15th, assuming their trends continue. New York City has only met four criteria, while Long Island and the Capital Region have each met five. Regions who meet all seven criteria will be permitted to re-open businesses listed under “Phase One” on May 15th, including:
- Construction;
- Manufacturing and wholesale supply chain;
- Retail for curbside or in-store pickup; and
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing.
In addition, the Governor announced that certain low-risk businesses and recreational activities may reopen statewide on May 15th, including:
- Landscaping and gardening;
- Outdoor, low-risk recreational activities (such as tennis); and
- Drive-in movie theaters.
Additional details, including the “NY FORWARD” reopening guide and a regional metric monitoring dashboard, are available here.
Governor Cuomo Issues Two Executive Orders
Over the weekend, Governor Cuomo signed two new Executive Orders containing directives related to the COVID-19 emergency. Executive Order 202.29 (available here) extends all directives in Executive Orders 202.15-202.21 until June 7th and extends the period during which victims of childhood sexual abuse can file a civil claim for cases that have expired under the statute of limitations.
Executive Order 202.30 (available here) contains several directives related to nursing homes and adults care facilities, including all adult homes, enriched housing programs, and assisted living residences. All Article 28 general hospitals may not discharge a patient to a nursing home unless (a) the nursing home operator or administrator has first certified that it is able to properly care for the patient and (b) the hospital performs a COVID-19 diagnostic test on the patient and obtains a negative result.
Additionally, the order requires nursing homes and adult care facilities to test all personnel twice per week with positive results submitted to the Department of Health (DOH) within one day. It also instates oversight requirements, including:
- Nursing home and adult care facility operators and administrators must submit a plan for implementing testing to DOH by May 13th.
- Nursing home and adult care facility operators and administrators must provide a certificate of compliance with this Order and all other applicable Executive Orders and directives to DOH by May 15th.
- DOH may suspend or revoke the operating certificate of any nursing home or adult care facility that does not comply with the directives of this Order.
- DOH may fine a facility $2,000 per violation per day, with subsequent violations resulting in penalties of $10,000 per violation per day.
- Any nursing home or adult care facility personnel who refuse to be tested for COVID-19 may be prohibited from providing services at the nursing home or adult care facility until such testing is performed.
OMH Updated COVID-19 Infection Control Guidance for Residential and Site-Based Programs
Today, the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) released updated COVID-19 infection control guidance (available here), which is an update to OMH’s earlier guidance released on April 13th. The guidance updates protocols related to masks and temperature checks, client procedures, staffing shortage strategies, and staff return to work requirements. OMH also released a self-assessment checklist (available here) that provides residential programs with the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) elements that should be in place both before and after recognition of a confirmed, suspected, or possible case of COVID-19 in the facility.
DOH Supports Efforts to Develop National Criteria for COVID-Related Illness in Children
On May 9th, DOH announced that it is partnering with NY Genome Center and Rockefeller University to conduct a genome and RNA sequencing study to better understand COVID-19-related illnesses in children. New York State hospitals have reported 73 pediatric cases and three reported deaths associated with the COVID-19-related illness, which the State is calling “Pediatric Multi-Inflammatory Syndrome Potentially Associated with COVID-19.” Most cases have tested positive for COVID-19 through either serological or molecular tests. At the direction of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), New York State will be developing national criteria for identifying and responding to the illness. Last week, DOH released an advisory (available here) with information for providers on required treatment and reporting protocols.
The press release is available here.