It turns out the Finger Lakes region falls short in two of the seven categories that are required for reopening, according to guidelines put forward by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
NY on PAUSE runs through May 15th, but the Governor warned that regions would need to see improvement in crucial categories to reopen.
For the Finger Lakes it comes down to testing and contact tracing.
Altogether, the region needs to process between 1,200-1,500 tests per day. Monroe County Public Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Mendoza says the region has the capacity.
“The greater challenge we have before us is in generating the demand, which is ironic because we keep hearing how people want the test, yet we’re not connecting people from that demand to getting the test,” he said. An ironic twist in the whole situation is seeing a region that clamored for tests a month ago, now not seek them out to fulfill the demand.
The Finger Lakes Region must have 361 contact workers to meet the metric. The region falls well short on that line.
“The guidelines are from the federal CDC. They’re reasonable and come from reliable sources and experts in the field,” Cuomo said on Tuesday.