NYC Sets New Thresholds For Reopening

NEW YORK, NY — New York City health officials have established new goals that will guide the city's decision to reopen its economy as social distancing measures effectively reduce the spread of the new coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

The new thresholds will relate directly to the three "key indicators" the city has been tracking since the coronavirus exploded in New York City: Daily suspected coronavirus hospitalizations, patients in NYC Health + Hospitals ICUs and the rate of positive coronavirus test results. Thresholds set by city health officials are fewer than 200 daily hospitalizations, fewer than 375 patients in ICUs and a positive testing rate less than 15%.

"A threshold is simple, it's the level you want to stay below... staying below those thresholds on a sustained basis is what makes clear to us that we are ready for more progress," de Blasio said Friday.

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The city previously tracked its three key indicators as trends, saying that all three measures would need to decrease on a consistent basis for at least two weeks before the city would consider resuming some economic activities. Measuring the indicators as trends was necessary to prove that social distancing measures had a direct effect on reducing the spread of coronavirus, de Blasio said.

"The trend line was what mattered before because, bluntly, until we all could prove to each other that we could to shelter in place and social distancing and face coverings and knock these numbers down with 8.6 million people, until we could see it on a sustained basis it was highly debatable," de Blasio said.

Measure the indicators against thresholds will instead prove that the city's coronavirus is manageable on a long-term basis. Remaining under the threshold doesn't mean that coronavirus won't still affect New Yorkers, but instead that city health officials and hospitals will be able to avoid another devastating outbreak, de Blasio said.

The city is currently meeting two of the three thresholds due to the success of social distancing measures. Daily suspected coronavirus hospitalizations dropped to 76 and the number of positive coronavirus tests is at 11%, as of data collected on Wednesday. The number of patients in ICUs, which is 451 as of Wednesday, remains above the city's threshold.

The mayor didn't explicitly state Friday which economic activities could resume when the city begins to reopen, but did say that the state's guidelines on reopening make sense. The state plan allows counties cleared for reopening to begin actives in four phases. The first phase includes industries such as construction, retail (limited to curbside pickup) and administrative offices.

De Blasio also avoided some questions on when he expects the city to reopen. The city will need to remain below all three thresholds for at least 10 to 14 days, but it's unclear if accomplishing that goal will result in an immediate reopening and it remains unclear whether an upward trend in any of the three metrics resets the city's clock.

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