Reopening in New York City is more complicated as we know, but we are on track to meet all of the metrics. Hospital capacity of 70%, we want 30% hospital capacity so, God forbid, something goes wrong, we have the beds. We will have the stockpile of PPE so we don't go through what we went through last time, searching the globe for ventilators, masks, and gowns. We learned that the hard way, it would be madness to go through that again. We have to have the testing in place, which we do. The contact tracing is being brought up to speed. We believe all of these things can be done next week. The MTA preparations for reopening, but we think all of this can be done by next week and we would be on track to open the week afterwards.
Be ready to open. We are on track to open on June 8th, which is one week from Monday. Phase one should bring about 400,000 employees back to work in New York City.
Remember that reopening does not mean we're going back to the way things were. Life in not about going back. Nobody goes back, we go forward. It is going to be different. It is reopening to a new normal. It is a safer normal. People will be wearing masks. People will be socially distanced. It doesn't mean they don't like you. It is not a personal reflection. It is just a new way of interacting, which is what we have to do. Wear a mask, get tested, and socially distance. Those simple devices, wearing a mask, hand sanitizer, they make all of the difference. Sometimes it is that simple. The doing is what is hard, getting 19 million people to do it, that is what is hard. And what happens is up to us.
June 8th we have to be smart. This is not happy days are here again, it's over, we have to be smart. And we're going to remind New Yorkers about that.
Back to COVID-19: NYC Resources
This page © 2020 Barry Drogin