WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Less populated areas of New York, Virginia and Maryland took their first steps towards lifting lockdowns on Friday, part of a patchwork approach to the coronavirus pandemic that has been shaped by political divisions across the United States.
FILE PHOTO: A man crosses a nearly deserted Fulton Street in the financial district in lower Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City, New York, U.S., April 3, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Construction and manufacturing facilities in five out of 10 New York state regions were given the green light to restart operations on Friday, although New York City, the country’s most populous city, remained under strict limits.
Joe Dundon, whose construction business in Binghamton, New York, was able to start up again on Friday after shutting down in March, said he had a long backlog of kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects and several estimates lined up for Friday.
“We are more than excited to get back to work,” he said.
New York state, home to both bustling Manhattan and hilly farmland that stretches to the Canadian border, has been the global epicenter of the pandemic but rural areas have not been nearly as badly affected as New York City.
Statewide, the outbreak is ebbing. Coronavirus hospitalizations in New York declined to 6,394, a third of the level at the peak one month ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday. The number of new coronavirus deaths in the state was 132 on Thursday, the lowest daily total since March 25, he told a news briefin