US Congress approves spending extension, avoiding shutdown
The US Senate passed a spending measure early on Saturday, ensuring that federal government funding will continue through mid-March, the New York Times reported.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday said several regions of upstate have shown progress in taming the coronavirus outbreak are ready to gradually restart economic activity by the end of the week.
Cuomo shut down the entire state March 22 as the New York City area emerged as a global pandemic hot spot, but the outbreak has been less severe in the state’s smaller cities and rural areas.
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He further said that three upstate regions have met all criteria for opening some business activity after May 15: the Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley and the Finger Lakes.
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During a daily briefing, the democratic governor said that this is the next big step in this historic journey.
New York’s first tentative steps toward reopening follow other states that have already relaxed restrictions.
Last week, Cuomo said regions of the state could phase in reopening if they met seven conditions.
COVID-19-related deaths and hospitalizations need to trend down and there must be enough hospital beds to meet a surge.
Cuomo gave no indication that New York City or the surrounding areas are anywhere near being able to reopen.
He also reported another 12 cases, for a total of 85, of a newly-recognized, Covid-related illness that afflicts children and has killed three in New York. The condition is called pediatric multi-system inflammatory disease, and it can cause dangerous inflammation, including to the heart.
Earlier on Sunday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also issued a warning about the illness, saying that 38 cases have been detected in the city and another nine are being investigated. One child has died, he said.
The total number of new coronavirus cases in New York rose on Sunday 2,273, for a total of 335,395.
The number of new deaths dropped from 226 the day before, the lowest since March 27, and marked the 10th straight day of new deaths at a plateau in the 200s. New and total hospitalizations, as well as intensive care cases, continued to drop.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 has now infected 4,101,482 people worldwide and 282,700 people have been killed due to this pandemic. Around 1,408,771 people of that tally have recovered.
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