Metrics needing to be Met and Sustained for Phase One of New York Regional Reopening

On April 26, NY Governor Cuomo would outline a Phased Plan to Re-open New York State Regions. Two days later he would give additional guidelines and announce the creation of a New York Forward Re-Opening Advisory Board.

Farther down, on this page, are the guidelines as borrowed from the NY Regional Monitoring Dashboard page where one can see how specific regions of the state are doing in as far as meeting up with the metrics required for entering Phase 1 of New York’s Reopening Plan.

One can also have a look at the official NY Forward: Guide to Reopening New York and Building Back Better.

We recall the Governor, more than once, stating that these metrics need to be sustained. Of course, it should go without saying. Anything which might disrupt our advancement towards recovery should/would be a sign to pull back the reins so’s to contain the problem(s). One obvious example would be a rise in confirmed COVID-19 infections &/or deaths.

Also, is you’re a business owner curious about whether you’re able to reopen then have a look at the new ‘Business Reopening Lookup Tool‘.

Description of Metrics:

These metrics have been established based on guidance from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of State, and other public health experts.

Metric #1—Decline in Total Hospitalizations.

Region must show a sustained decline in the three-day rolling average of total net hospitalizations (defined as the total number of people in the hospital on a given day) over the course of a 14-day period. Alternatively, regions can satisfy this metric if the daily net increase in total hospitalizations (measured on a 3-day rolling average basis) does not exceed 15. The first number in this cell represents the number of consecutive days of decline in the three-day rolling average of total net hospitalizations; if this number is 14 or greater the region automatically satisfies this metric. The second number represents the maximum daily net increase in total hospitalizations measured on a three day rolling average; if this number is 15 or less the region automatically satisfies this metric.

Metric #2—Decline in Deaths. 

Region must show a sustained decline in the three-day rolling average of daily hospital deaths over the course of a 14-day period. Alternatively, regions can satisfy this metric if the three-day rolling average of daily new hospital deaths does not exceed 5. The first number in this cell represents the number of consecutive days of decline in the three-day rolling average of daily hospital deaths; if this number is 14 or greater the region automatically satisfies this metric. The second number represents maximum daily increase in the three-day rolling average of new hospital deaths; if this number is 5 or less the region automatically satisfies this metric.

Metric #3—New Hospitalizations.

Region must experience fewer than 2 new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, measured on a three-day rolling average. New hospitalizations include both new admissions and prior admissions subsequently confirmed as positive COVID cases.

Metric #4—Hospital Bed Capacity. 

Regions must have at least 30% of their hospital beds available.

Metric #5—ICU Bed Capacity. 

Regions must have at least 30% of their ICU beds available.

Metric #6—Diagnostic Testing Capacity. 

Average daily diagnostic testing over the past 7 days must be sufficient to conduct 30 tests per 1,000 residents per month.

Metric #7—Contact Tracing Capacity. 

Number of contact tracers in each region must meet thresholds set by the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Vital Strategies.

++++

Governor Cuomo:

“We have to coordinate regionally, schools, tracing this all has to be coordinated on a multi-county effort. We have to reimagine tele-medicine. Reimagine tele-education. We have to have a regional control room that is monitoring all of these indicators and gives us the danger sign if we get over 70% capacity, if the infection rate pops up. We have to have one central source that is monitoring all these dials, that hits the danger button so you could actually slow down the reopening.”

“[The] regional control room, where you’re monitoring all of those metrics, you’re monitoring hospital capacity, the rate of infection, the PPE burn rate, how businesses are complying. And it has an emergency switch that we can throw if any one of those indicators are problematic because, remember, we have gone through hell and back over the past 60 or so days.”