Elective Surgeries
Today Governor Cuomo announced that 12 additional counties are now eligible to restart elective surgeries, leaving Erie as the only upstate county that is still restricted from performing these types of procedures. The complete list of counties that are restricted from performing elective surgeries is below:
- Erie
- Rockland
- Westchester
- Bronx
- New York
- Kings
- Queens
- Richmond
- Nassau
- Suffolk
Another Region is Ready to Open
It was announced that the North Country will be the fourth region to be eligible to begin reopening this coming Friday, May 15. This region met the final criteria for eligibility by increasing the number of test it performed to at least 30 per 1,000 residents monthly, going off of a seven day average.
Federal Support
The Governor revisited the proposed federal American First bill and reiterated the importance of maintaining the currently included State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction provisions in the final language. If the SALT provisions are kept in the bill then the State cost of about $29 billion per year could in turn be used to offset the burden that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on the State.
Governor Cuomo and Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland (who is also Chair of the National Governors Association) released a statement today about the importance of funding state and local governments to the tune of “$500 billion in fiscal support for state budgetary shortfalls resulting from the pandemic, enhanced FMAP funding to provide healthcare to our most vulnerable, and 100 percent federal cost share for FEMA response and recovery efforts.”
COVID-19 Numbers
Thankfully, we continue to remain on the far side of the COVID-19 plateau. That said, the number of deaths in the State has increased by 166 since yesterday.
