Finger Lakes Region poised to enter Phase IV of reopening

The Finger Lakes region, which includes Monroe County, will enter Phase IV of reopening on June 26. It joins  Central New York, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country and the Southern Tier.

Phase IV will allow low-risk indoor and outdoor arts and entertainment, film and TV production, higher education and professional sports without fans. Guidance for Phase IV of reopening is available here.

In in Phase IV of reopening, social gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed and indoor religious gatherings will be allowed at up to 33 percent of the indoor site’s capacity, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

“Our approach has been vindicated and the phased reopening based on facts is working,” Cuomo said. “I said from day one that the theory the virus should be handled politically can’t be done. The virus doesn’t respond to political theory – it responds to science and data. We’re going ahead with our metrics and our phased reopening, and five regions are set to enter Phase IV on Friday. The numbers continue trending in the right direction as we went from one of the highest infections rates to one of the lowest in the country, so we will also allow slightly larger social and religious gatherings, but people need to continue wearing masks, socially distancing and washing their hands frequently to stay safe.”